Stray Dog Strut
by Nightheart
Summary: Rukia was a Kuchiki and there was no denying that, but Renji was her friend and she wasn't about to abandon him, not again.
1. Chapter 1

"Hn," he grunted, unimpressed.

In his hand was a creme-vellum envelope with the seal of one of the Seireitei's noble houses embossed in gold foil on it. The card inside of it announced a grand ball to mark the opening of the Season, and that, as a Lieutenant of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, he was invited. He looked up to meet his friend and fellow lieutenant's eyes with a skeptical look on his face.

"You should go," Izuru said. "I mean, what's the point of finally making lieutenant after all that hard work if you don't get to enjoy some of the perks?"

"Oh. Uh-huh..." he gestured to the mountainous stack of paperwork covering every available surface on and near his desk. "I'm about all '_perked-out_' thanks."

"The food is really great," Izuru pursued. "Lady Inori is famous for her gala's, everybody who's anybody wants to attend."

"My point exactly," Renji replied, tossing the card on top of one of the stacks of paperwork on his desk. "It's not exactly my kind of scene."

"Aw c'mon, what's not to like?"

"I'll start with being stuffed into some monkey-suit and go from there," Renji said.

"You don't have to wear the formal dress uniform if you don't want to, it's perfectly allowable to show up in formal civilian clothes," Izuru said, like he thought that might make any kind of difference to him.

"I don't own any," Renji said flatly. "Besides, can you see me in the middle of all that nonsense and politics prancing around like I'm some kinda nobleman?"

"Technically, you are now," Izuru added. "Seats, Vice-Captaincy's and Captaincy's all provide a certain rank among the nobility. Granted, it's usually not as high as a lot of the ranks that a lot of the officers are born into naturally--"

"Such as you and the Kuchiki," Renji interjected.

"But it's there," Kira continued, ignoring his comment. "The fact that you got an invitation at all means you can't be ignored by them."

"I only got n invitation because that Inori woman is trying to score brownie points with my boss," he said frankly. "And as far as I'm concerned that's just one more reason not to go; Lieutenant or not, I don't belong in that world. I don't think I'd like to spend the whole evening being stared at like an exhibit in a zoo. That's exactly what'll happen, and you know it."

"Don't be silly," Izuru scoffed, a little unconvincingly. He wasn't a very good liar at all. "They'll _love _you, all you have to do is pour on the charm. I've seen you do it, so I know you can; all the nurses in Fourth are half in love with you."

Renji grinned unexpectedly, his smile a mixture of roguish and boyish, and it did indeed transform his features from mean and unapproachable to affable and good-natured.

"They give me extra food if I'm nice to 'em," he confided to his friend. "And extra sponge baths. Extra _long _sponge baths. Extra long and _thorough _sponge baths."

"Same principle here," Izuru said. "If you're nice to them they'll be nice to you. I dunno about the sponge bath thing though; some of them might go for it, but you'd have to deal with angry fathers afterward."

"You still haven't given me one good reason why this sounds like anything but a _disaster _in the making," Renji said.

Izuru's manner changed a little, going from bantering to serious.

"I'm worried about Hinamori," he confided. "She never leaves her squad headquarters, and from what I hear, she won't even leave her _quarters _unless she has to. The morale in Fifth has never been lower and I overheard Unohana say that she worries about Momo's ability to recover mentally from it."

The "it" refferenced being Aizen's recent betrayal of the seireitei and personal betrayal of Momo, who revered and loved him to an extent that some might consider unhealthy. Certainly she was in a grave state of shock. Renji wouldn't admit it out loud but he was worried about her, Momo might be trained as a fighter, but her nature was gentle and kind, she'd always struck him as being somone fragile and he cared for her as protectively as any big brother might.

"Yeah, I heard it was pretty bad," Renji said, scratching the back of her head in discomfort. "I saw her in the last Lieutenant's meeting, she just stared off into space. It was strange, and when I tried to talk to her afterward it was like I wasn't even there."

"I think she just needs to get out from under everything. You know... socialize," Kira said, toying idly with a letter opener and pretending to find the edge fascinating so he didn't have to look up while he was speaking about a raw and sensitive subject. They were _all _hurting, in their own ways.

"If we get her away from the headquarters for a bit, hopefully the change of scene will knock her out of this depression she's been in."

"I think it'll take a lot more than a change of scene to do that," Renji said skeptically. At his friends frustrated look he quickly amended

"But you're right that it couldn't _hurt _either. If nothing else she'll be around people she can't afford to offend, so she'll be _forced _to interact with them. _Anything _that gets her out of her shell at this point is worth tryin' I guess."

"So.. you're in?" Izuru said hopefully. "I don't think I can pull this off alone."

"Why are you recruiting _me _then?" Reji asked curiously. "You'd do better with someone who's noble too, like Kotetsu or Chiba, who'll fit in in that place. One look at me and they'll be telling their servants to hide the silver."

"Right now Hinamori needs the support of her friends," Kira cleared his throat. "And while she's friendly with both of those two, I don't know if they're both the sort that can really look out for her like I know you will. I've seen you Renji, you take care of your own. Besides..."

A slow, smug, teasing smile spread across his usually morose and serious face, putting Renji immediately on his guard.

"The Kuchiki siblings will be there."

Naturally, Renji pretended that he didn't care about that in the least.

"What's it matter to me whether those two show up or not? It's got nuthin' t' do with me," he mumbled.

"Ri-ight, and the chance to see Kuchiki the younger in a beautiful ballgown has nothing to do with you either right?"

Renji scowled and crossed his arms, fully aware that his friend was teasing him.

"Rukia's pretty popular at these things," Izuru said in a light, considering tone that still managed to hold a teasing edge in it. "Not as popular as the manhimself, but there are a lot of eligible young noblemen out there who'd just _love _to marry into all that wealth and upper tier nobility."

Renji's scowl deepened.

"Idiots," he growled. If that was their only reason for hanging around her, he definitely wouldn't forgive them.

"Think of this as an opportunity to show her how much better you are than any of those other guys," Izuru said with a backwards wave as he left the office. Renji sighed with a scowl, he had basically just agreed to it and his warriors pride wouldn't let him back out of it. He was stuck.

:_It's just one evening_,: he told himself. :_I can go there, eat some snacks, be nice to the women, keep Hinamori out of trouble and then come back home, no problems._:

He very carefully wasn't going to let himself think about this being his first real social event since attaining his Lieutenants rank, and he definitely wasn't going to think about this being the first time he'd get to mix with Rukia as an _equal _within the Seireitei.

:_I'm only going for Hinamori and the food,_: he thought firmly. That was his story and he was sticking to it.

:_Now all I have to do is find where I stuffed that stupid dress uniform_.:

* * *

**There it is Chapter one, this one is going to be longer than Those Who Can Put You Together, and it is openly more Renkia than that one, but like the other, it dances along the fine line between romance and friendship. It starts out kinda slow and it was written more to keep me entertained than because I wanted anything epic, but I think its a fun read. Please enjoy it, and if you have the leisure, leave a reveiw to tell me what you thought of it, because let's face it, how often are we going to get to see Renji wearing a formal uniform? (The way I have the formal uniform for the Soul Reapers envisioned makes him look totally hot!)  
**

**This one takes place in the timeline between where Rukia decides to stay behind in the Soul Society after nearly being executed, and when she shows up again later on. **


	2. Reminisence

Rukia wondered if she could beg off sick, maybe break her arm or leg in a training exsesize and therefore be regrettably unable to attend. Lady Inori was the queen of the Seireitei Nobility's social world, holding almost as influence among the nobility as the Kichiki's did. As the reigning queen of the social strata that Rukia had been elevated into, she perforce held the best entertainments. The balls she held at the open and close of every Season were, without a doubt, the most extravagant and highly anticipated social events of them all. The food was exquisite, the music tasteful and elegant, the settings were always nothing short of glorious... and Rukia always spent every single moment of all of them wishing she were somewhere else.

Despite the fact that she was nobility now, she found those stupid social events she was dragged to to be a dead bore. She went to them only because she did not want her dear Elder Brother to be disappointed in her, and she was always on her very best behavior to bring honor and not shame to her house, but she never enjoyed _any _of it. Her brother usually passed her off onto the arm of some dull but socially suitable noble scion and drifted off to talk politics with the heads of the Houses for the rest of the evening and she spent the night either trying to feign interest in tales of his hunting exploits, the breeding lines of his new racehorse, or in being asked to dance by one faceless dullard after the next trying to impress her with his pedigree and insinuating that an alliance between their houses would have advantages all around. Not fun at all. Maybe it was her low-class roots showing through, but when Rukia thought of a party she thought of loud music and boisterous laughter and dancing that made the floorboards shake. Say whatever else you might about the Rukon district, it might have been purgatory for anyone who lived in it, but they _knew _how to party hard enough for even the most unfortunate to forget that they were utterly miserable for a few hours.

She'd have to wear a ballgown too. She hated those things; layers upon layers of stifling silk and satin wrapped around her, the bodices inevitably cut off her breath (and made it damned near impossible to move let alone be able to swing a sword) the skirt of the things swung around her when she turned and the tail (she guessed it was called a train) was a regular pain in the butt.

The women of the Soul Reapers who were invited to attend had a modified form of the ballgown with certain Soul Reaper regulation codes; it was black with spaghetti straps (to allow greater freedom of movement), there was a special decorative style of sword belt that wouldn't clash with the dress that lashed the sword crosswise at the small of the back (so that it could be drawn easily while not interfering with mobilty or the fall of the skirt) and the skirt had neither a train on it (so that in an emergency a Soul Reaper would not be tripping on it) nor did it flare out much at all... oh, but the long arm of the Kuchiki influence allowed her brother to interfere in even these sensible restrictions. The stupid dress her dear, doting (overprotective) elder brother had ordered made for her was strapless which meant she had to wear a full bodice underneath it to hold it up and that meant no breathing for an entire evening. Not only that but she had a full skirt which meant petticoats to fluff it out and she had nightmares about herself getting a foot caught up in one and tripping to fall flat on her face (or worse, having it tear right out from under her skirt!).

Her brother really should be more considerate and conscious of her mental sufferings; it was bad enough she was held up to standards that had been trained into her late in her life, so much _worse _that she _knew _people would be watching her, just _waiting _for her to make the slightest slip-up so they could gossip about it for next several Seasons and hold her up as an example of why commoners should never be let into the nobility.

:_It's going to be even worse this time_,: she thought, turning green with dread. :_I've already broken several major rules of the Seireitei and nearly been executed as a result, they're already going to be talking about me!:_

She realized, as her stomach began to twist and clench, that the only thing worse than having too many suitors for your dance card was having none at all. She was facing the state of being a social _pariah_! Despite having been elevated to the very finest of families she was going to be a social out-cast, no-one would speak to her except that she should give their regards to her brother. They might not be people she liked or respected, but she would bring shame to her family if she didn't have at least a _little _social mobility. Her brother would be disappointed, maybe even so much so that he'd wish he'd never made her his sister!

Worry stacked upon worry started to drag at her until it felt like she'd never be able to move again.

There had been times in plenty since she'd moved into that enormous, empty Kuchiki mansion when she'd felt tremendous pressure to be able to fit in as a member of the nobility. She'd forced herself to learn everything her teachers had to teach her; how to move like a lady, with posture and poise, how to eat properly with dainty bites and the correct set of utensils and the proper method of washing the hands between courses, how to dance, how to play an instrument, proper forms of speech, how to address the different strata of the nobility by rank and title (his excellency this, her grace that and so on). Sometimes her head had felt so _stuffed _that she didn't think she'd be able to fit another thing in there. Her body, forced to learn strange new patterns and mannerisms, slowly began to feel like it belonged to someone else. There had been times when she didn't know who she really was anymore, that "Rukia" had only been a strange dream before the advent of "Rukia Kuchiki" and it was those times, when the wind howled and echoed through the empty halls of the house that she curled up in a lonely little ball of misery and secretly wished she'd never left the Academy. How she'd wished at those times that she had a friend, someone who understood her, someone who knew who she was, truly, on the inside and could remind her of herself.

She'd wished she'd still had Renji.

Since almost time immemorial he'd been a partner and support to her, the naturally aggressive, extroverted leader of their little band of mini-thugs-in-training, he'd been the one with the people skills to take her crazy plans on paper and convince enough people to follow him so as to make it feasible. Rukia had never been able to convince anyone on her own that her ideas were worth listening to. In the wild chaos of their flop-house (with upwards of ten to twenty kids in it, fighting and competing with one another like kittens in a litter) if she wanted something done she could scream until she was blue in the face and be ignored, but if Renji said "do it" the other kids hopped-to (or faced his swift and violent retribution). He'd smile as he put up with her temper and her nagging him to bathe, he'd never seemed to mind that she always took the inside spot away from the door during the winter and, while he might squabble with her over the last crust of bread for breakfast, if he knew she'd given her dinner away to one of the younger kids the night before (and he usually did no matter how well she thought she hid it) he'd always share his own with her the next morning. He'd been a presence at her back all throughout the hard times, warning people not to touch her stuff (or her) if they wanted all their limbs intact in the morning.

Rukia frowned as her thoughts changed direction slightly to less pleasant tracks. She'd thought that he would be a part of her life forever so even though they'd seemed to drift apart a little in the academy, she in the regular classes and he quickly outstripping her in the advanced classes (despite the fact that she was way more skilled in kido than he was), she hadn't worried. She'd figured that once they graduated and were assigned a unit they'd both settle in finally and regain their former close relationship. And who knew... the present Rukia shook her head at her earlier girlish fancies of married officers residencies and little red-haired brats with indigo eyes.

All of that had changed when she became a Kuchiki, but it had taken her a while to catch on. As soon as she'd moved into the House she'd had people lecturing and guiding her for every single waking moment on how to do this and how to do that. The masters of protocaol went on and on at nap-inducing length about the honor of her clan and how, as a Kuchiki she was above consorting with those of the common touch. She'd sort of started tuning them out after a while, secretly imagining what Renji would have to say about all of htier non-sense.

Rukia still recalled with crystal clarity the awful day that's she realized exactly what the words "new start on life" meant. It had been a cool fall day when the true implications of her new status hit her. Rukia, on an errand for the House with her brother, had happened across Renji, who had graduated directly to the twentieth seat in Fifth Squad straight out of the Academy. She had greeted him as enthusiastically as she ever had, running up to him excitedly and chattering about the new place she got to live in and how great the food was and she showed off her new kimono that was made of real silk with satin brocade and... _why wasn't he looking at her_? For his entire life, proud, confident Renji had looked down to no-one, whether it be a stronger thug or a visiting nobleman. But he had _bowed _to her that day. Like a servant, he had lowered his head and asked for her forgiveness for blocking her path and then he had backed up, head still bowed submissively. She had tried to tell him not to be silly and that he didn't need to bother with such silly formalities with her. She'd tried to catch his eye and make him look at her, but he hadn't looked up.

To this day she still recalled very clearly the way panic had blossomed and seized her chest as the reality of her new situation started sinking in. She'd always felt in her heart that Renji was the exception to all those nonsensical rules the Kuchiki Elders kept spouting at her, about how she was above the common touch and not to associate with persons beneath her exalted status as a Kuchiki. She'd thought he was the exception to the rules because Renji had _always _been the exception and that was how her world _worked_. Not anymore. Renji wasn't an exception and he knew it ... and at that point so did she.

Byakuya swept past them both without a single backwards glance; he hadn't even noticed that his little sisters heart felt like it was breaking. It had been bad enough that she'd been in a strange place with no friends, surrounded by people who looked at her like they knew she didn't belong there, where she always felt constantly like she was soiling something with just her mere presence, like she somehow trailed the grubby dirt of her Rukon past with her wherever she went. People were throwing incomprehensible lists of rules and procedures at her on which the most minor infraction seemed to spell social death and she had no way of coping. The moment she felt like she got her feet under her she was knocked sideways again. All of that would have been okay, not _great, _but _okay, _if she'd had just one person she felt she could trust as a confidante, someone to listen to her, someone to complain to, someone to tell her she was going to be alright, but there was no-one.

The servants all looked at her like they were afraid she might have fleas and her brother was singularly disinterested. As for the rest of the cadet line Kuchiki's, they all wished her to perdition for stealing away thier chance to squabble over the possible inheritance of the Kuchiki estate and title in the event of Byakuya's untimely demise. All of that had been bearable for her because she'd believed deep down that the strangeness of it all would wear off as soon as she got her best friend back in her life. Renji had never had any problems making friends (or enemies) and he'd always been able to survive perfectly well in any environment. She'd often envied him for that, his ease with people. Often, in the Academy, the way he'd seemed to so quickly move beyond her had really made her feel lonely... but in the Academy at least, even if she'd sometimes felt a little like he was leaving her behind, all she'd had to do was look over her shoulder and there he was, a tall imposing presence at her back, backing her up and helping her keep moving forward. Until that moment, when he wouldn't look up to meet her eyes she'd never truly imagined that they would ever _really _be in separate worlds. It had brought it home hard that a "new life" for her meant exactly that; her past wasn't allowed to be part of her present. She had spent the rest of the day feeling like she'd been sucker punched out of nowhere and then had someone pull her ankles out from under her; not only could she not breathe, but down was up!

There were times when it was still hard for her. It was hard feeling like she faced the world alone. Even if the World of the Living had been a strange new world for her, she had been happy there because that constant feeling of loneliness she'd gotten had been erased by the presence of Ichigo Kurosaki. She'd broken a rule with a mortal penalty attached to it to allow him to save his family, but she'd never regretted it for an instant, not even when she'd faced death... because she at last had a _friend _again. Not a cold and distant Elder Brother who never seemed to be quite satisfied with her meager progress, not some hanger-on or sycophant nobleman hanging about for a shot at a title, but a _real friend_. They shared a life together, sleeping in the same chamber, eating the same food. It reminded her of... _other _days. Days with an equally brash, protective, charismatic youth who had drawn loyal friends to him to follow her on what had been some half-baked schemes, getting into messes and out of scrapes together. Days that had had more sorrow than was fair but had also had true, genuine laughter in them too. Days with a comforting presence at her back, strong but not always silent. In the time they'd been separated Rukia had not allowed herself to think on it much, dwelling on the dear friend she'd lost only made the abandonment feel _worse_, but living with Kurosaki had brought back all those memories of another life she'd shared with another boy. Which had only made it all the _worse _sometimes.

:_He must have been terribly angry with me_,: she recognized now.

She had been surprised to see him after all those years at the side of her brother when he'd come to fetch her back. In the short time she'd been gone he'd made Lieutenant, the second-highest rank in the whole Soul Society (in under fifty years no less, and for a person with no connections, that was _unheard of_!).

He must have been _furious_. She recalled well how she had reacted to the Ribbon Incident upon finding out that Renji had risked his life for a stupid little trinket. She'd just been flooded with a rage so thick she literally hadn't been able to think clearly; she recalled well how her hands had seemed to reach out of their own accord to throttle him. How could ha have been so stupid! Didn't he see that she needed him alive?! Looking back on it, she really didn't blame him for throttling her, if their positions had been reversed she would probably have done the same. He must have been horrified and enraged to discover that he was going to have to hand her over, not for a slap on the wrists for not checking in with her squad after weeks in the field, but to be sentenced to execution for breaking one of the primary rules of the Seireitei.

:_yeah,_: she thought after some consideration. :_I would definitely have done the same._:

At the time she thought he'd just been mad about her breaking one of the Seireitei's cardinal rules. She hadn't seen the real reason behind precisely why he was so very very angry with her.

_:I thought after so long that he just didn't care about me anymore_,: she thought ruefully.

It had been forty years after that day in the academy when he'd dealt the deathblow to thier friendship. When she'd seen him smile so brightly and congratulate her on making it big she'd thought he hadn't cared about her anymore, she thought he'd been glad to get rid of her. Despite the fact that all she'd ever had to do was catch his eye and signal with thier street sign and he'd immediately drop whatever he was doing or ditch whoever he was with to be at her side again, she'd always felt like she'd been holding him back. That was why it had felt like such a slap in the face when he had bowed deferentially at her like she was a stranger. Renji, of all people, should never treat her like a stranger. After all they had been through together he of all people could say that he really knew her. She'd never felt more alone than in that moment when the man who'd been friend and family to her, protector and support to her, had silently said that he didn't want to know her. It had hurt her deeply to see him all but say that he didn't want her in his life anymore, that he had moved on and so should she.

_:It took me nearly getting executed for us to reconcile_,: she thought humorously.

her near execution and rescue by the friends she had made in the living world (and Renji!) had been the scariest time in her life, she'd been resolved to no longer struggling to live but to give her life up in atonement and to protect her friends. The first time he'd come to visit her in the brig at the squad six barracks he'd just stood there and scowled... she thought he'd come to gloat or something but he'd never said a word about how the great noble Kuchiki was brought back to a station lower than a street rat (at least a street rat was free, sort of). She still recalled the naked pain and anguish on his face when he'd snuck in late one night and asked her why.

"Why would you do such a thing Rukia? Why?" he'd asked.

"To help him protect his family," she had answered simply.

"And that's worth throwing your whole life away to help some mayfly human?!" he demanded next, his tone angry. She had been surprised to notice that Renji was working himself into one of his frenzied states; she'd seen it happen once or twice in the Rukon District and when it did... look out. There hadn't been a thug left standing in a five foot radius of him in that crowd where Rukia had once nearly gotten trampled.

"I thought so at the time," she had said, her voice the tonelessness that had been trained into her by the nobility. "Besides, my life isn't worth much anyway, if it comes down to it Onii-sama can just find another street rat to take in and shape to be his replacement little sister."

She'd jumped in startlement when Renji's fist had shot out and punched a hole in the wall.

"Ya' jus' do whatever the fuck ya want, doncha?" he'd growled with menacing quiet. "You're not a real Kuchiki and yer goddamn _irreplaceable_!"

With that announcement he'd stormed out of the room. Rukia had been left staring at the place he'd just vacated and the new decoration he'd left on the wall and the only thought getting through her benumbed, surprised state was one of pity for the next poor sucker to brush against him in the halls.

...And now she had it all back. What had always seemed to be an insurmountable wall that had grown between them was not so insurmountable as it seemed. All thier past mistakes and misunderstandings had been cleared away. Renji cared about her, he always had, she'd just misinterpreted him due to her _own _insecurities.

Becoming a lieutenant in under fifty years when, face it, Renji was no prodigy in _anything _but Zabimaru, meant that his rise through the ranks would have been based solely on his strength alone. It made her shiver a little to think of all the things he would have had to go through to attain a rank like that... even with being placed in the advanced classes in the academy. She knew her friend well, he wasn't long in the thinking department and his kido skills had always sucked; he was great with his sword and an aggressive fighter, but that was pretty much all he had to recommend him. Unlike Rukia with her Kuchiki Family connections, Renji had no friends in high places to whisper in ears and trade favors to get him promoted, which meant he'd slogged his way up the ladder by main force alone.

Her time as a Kuchiki had been filled with nothing but lonliness and distance so far; in many ways it had felt like she'd lost more than she'd ever gained by taking up that great name, but recently things had definately gotten better. She had good friends in the world of the living, Kurosaki, Inoue, Chad and even the Quincy (even if he did seem like he'd rather cut off his bow-finger than acknowledge that he was friends with a Soul Reaper). And she had Renji back in her life too. Things were finally starting to look up a little.

* * *

**Reveiws are love...love me?**


	3. The Vestiture

"I look kinda..." Renji said, looking dubiusly in the mirror at himself dressed in the fancy dress uniform of the Soul Reapers with a dubious look on his face.

"Relax," Kira Izuru said, expertly buttoning the high-necked collar on his own formal uniform. "You look sharp."

"Are you sure we have to wear all o' these?" he asked next, frowning doubtfully down at his chest.

"All of our pips, ribbons and medals are part of the formal uniform, they're required Renji," Kira said firmly. "Besides, they impress the women, trust me."

"Hn," Renji grunted, shrugging... or rather, trying to. Movement of the shoulders was damned difficult in the formal costume. He guessed it was tailored to make him stand up straight, and if that was so, he suddenly understood why his Captain walked around like he had a stick shoved up his ass; growing up wearing weird clothes like this would do it to anyone.

"Here, lemme see," Kira said, turning him for inspection. He wondered if he should be gratified or annoyed by the surprised, appraising look his friend gave him.

"You actually clean up good Renji," he said, sounding taken aback. "It suits you."

"It had better, after the damned fittings," Renji growled.

Those had come as a rather unpleasant surprise to be certain. Standing for hours, half naked, on a stool while two old women with the temperaments of, well, _old women_ poked and prodded at him, moving his limbs and sticking pins in places entirely too close to his flesh. Not that he had some wussy fear of needles or anything. He wasn't a wimp. But that one woman had been a little _too _enthusiastic about measuring his in-seam for Renji's comfort.

"I guess I can't argue with the result though," the red-haired lieutenant grumbled grudgingly.

The Soul Reaper formal uniform was cut and styled entirely differently from their regular uniform. The pants were black slacks with silver-white piping down the side seam and an exact pleat down the center line that was to be crisp as a folded piece of paper. The white collared, starched shirt with long, cuffed sleeves that buttoned up the front didn't actually show under the formal uniform's over-jacket. The formal jacket that went over the white shirt was black as his usual shihakushou, but there the resemblance ended. It was tailored to accentuate his broad shoulders, stretching wide across his chest and pulling in snugly at his waist with a high-necked collar. The black stark black of the jacket was broken by accents of silver-white piping at the rim of the collar (that fitted a little too firmly around his neck) and a neat row of silver-white frog-and-toggle fastenings down the left side of the jacket front. The evil mastermind who had designed the jacket had made it so that he had no choice but to stand tall, with his shoulders back, if he wanted to avoid getting choked. There was a silver and white baldric that slashed across his chest from his right shoulder to his left hip for him to buckle Zabimaru to, with a matching sash around the waist. Even Zabimaru was given a dress sheath made of black lacquered wood with white and silver tassels. A braided blue cord looped around his right shoulder to identify him as belonging to the Sixth Squadron (the other squads had other colors), and the two shining platinum rank-pips gleaming like tiny mirrors on either shoulder proclaimed him to be a Lieutenant.

Renji had mixed feelings about the formal uniform, he'd never worn it before, so to him it felt strange and discomfiting; it was definitely not as loose-fitting and comfortable as his regular uniform and he could not move as easily in it. His arms did not move freely and he could barely shrug his shoulders without having to tug his jacket down to restore the line. Despite this, even _he _had to admit that it did look pretty good on him. In a way, he supposed that he was sort of glad that he was wearing it to the event, precisely because it _wasn't _something he wore every day; every day he was just Renji, sure he was a lieutenant, but there had been enough people who had seen him get knocked ass over end by his own Bankai that his having achieved a lieutenants rank didn't mean that he wasn't still a goof in some ways. But now because Renji was going to be going to the formal event dressed in the formal uniform with all of his ribbons and medals displayed on his chest, the people there were going to see his rank and achievements first before they saw that it was just Renji.

Instead of its usual messy tail, his hair had been soberly french braided behind him and tied with a silver, black and blue cord. The left side of his chest was where all of those decorations they kept giving him for performance in the feild went. Lots of multi-colored strips pinned in neat rows and a couple of dangling medals that clinked a little when he walked decorated him.

"You have a lot of those," Kira said, looking directly at the right side of his chest, where his medals gleamed underneath a rainbow of ribbons.

Renji had five rows of ribbons pinned on him and four medals pinned on underneath them (at Kira's insistence, Renji would have been happier without them making all of that noise). Kira had three rows and two medals, not bad, but not as many as Renji, and Renji had tiny gold pips pinned on almost all of his stripes signifying that his behavior on the mission they'd given him the ribbon for was exemplary... valor, fortitude, honor and all that.

"They keep sendin' 'em to me," Renji grumbled, a little embarrassed. "Hinamori told me to keep 'em all as a way to mark my progress. I told her I mark my progress by how much stronger I get, but she said that I should keep them anyway."

Kira smiled a little and explained

"They're a way for others at a social function to see how well you've served in the field."

"I'm a Lieutenant ain't I?" Renji growled in reply, bristling at the implication that he hadn't served well.

"Aren't you," Kira corrected absently. "And the nobility lives in a different world, they don't really _get _how hard it is to climb through the ranks. The bright colors and shiny things help them out a little."

Renji nodded in understanding.

"Are you two boys done primping in there?" a light voice called from outside the door. "Matsumoto's already gone on ahead and I'm stuck waiting on you two ladies."

"Yeah yeah," Renji called. "We're done here dammit."

"Renji, language," Kira reminded him. Renji smiled and put on a mocking version of polite speech.

"We are ready to escort the dear lady at her earliest convenience."

Kira looked like he'd just grown a second head.

"What?" Renji asked, grinning back over at him. "Just 'cause I don't talk like some hoity-toity asshole doesn't mean I can't do it if I _want _to."

"I'd suggest that you '_want to_' for the rest of the evening then," Kira said, not missing a beat and opening the door. Renji was right behind him.

Hinamori rose from where she sat on Kira's low-slung couch waiting on them to finish the finishing touches on their formal uniforms. She was a picture in a black satin ballgown with wide straps over her shoulders holding in place a bodice with a squared-off neckline. Faux-diamonds glittered across the top of her neckline with sparking black beads shimmering like moonlight on water over the torso section of the dress beneath it. Her arms were clad in elbow-length gloves of black silk with faux-diamonds glittering in a strip along the top of it. There was a decorative white and silver sash sewn across her chest from the shoulder-join of her neckline to her waist. A few strips of color and a single medal dangled at the left side of her chest, it was the only thing on her evening wear to signify that she was a ranked Soul Reaper beside the color. The skirt of the gown was black satin with an over-panel of black transparent cloth that had patterns of glittering black beads sewn onto it to catch the light, it belled out from her hips with a waterfall of ruffles frothing down the back from where her sword was belted crosswise at the back of her waist. She'd put her hair up with loose curles to frame her heart-shaped face and she wore diamond-drop earrings and a matching pendant her face was made up, subtly emphasizing her fragility with smoky dark eyes and reddened lips. She looked a little uncertain, as she always did now, standing in the middle of the room.

"You look beautiful," Kira said sincerely, reaching out to take her hand and bowing over it. Renji rolled his eyes.

"I'd love ta see ya try an' _fight _in that thing Hinamori, but it looks great on you... Now let's go, I'm gettin' hungry."

It had the intended effect of making her laugh and shake her head.

"Same old Renji," she smiled, a laugh in her voice.

"I never change," he told her, grinning boyishly at her. For some reason, the nurses in the ward seemed to go a little gaga when he smiled at 'em like that and he'd never tested to see if it worked on other women.

Hinamori blinked at him.

"You should smile more often Renji," she said, surprise lacing her voice. "It completely transforms your features."

"Really?" he asked a little taken aback.

"Yes! You no longer look like you're about to eat someone's cat or something," Hinamori teased.

"It was just that _one _time!" Reji said in a jocular manner as Kira looped his hand through one of Hinamori's arms and Renji took the other and the three of them flashed off to the Inori residence.

The residence of the Noble Lady who was throwing the bash was decked out for the occasion. The enormous fountain shaped like a beautiful woman pouring a never-ending stream of water from a pitcher had candles floating in it and there were strands of fairy lights decorating the walls surrounding the front lawn. Lanterns swung from festives flowerd vines near the front portico, lighting the faces of the brightly colored lords and ladies (and some few ranked officers) and sparkling off the jewelry around necks and fingers and wrists in the dark. They could hear the hum of chatter and the soft strains of the music of the party inside as they approached the building. The sheer size and scope of the magnificent residence was daunting by itself; it easily dwarfed the headquarters of the Sixth division and that building could hold over five hundred men _plus _all of the facilities to keep them. How much space did one family need?

Renji wondered for a long moment on sighting the place, just what the _heck _he thought he was doing approaching such a place; they'd take one look at him and escort him out (probably via the servant's entrance). Then he looked down at Momo, with her haunted eyes which seemed to be shining ever so slightly at the sight of the beautiful front lawn and reminded himself that he wasn't there just to be there, he was helping a friend regain her spark.

Kira gave their names and ranks and invitations to the door man who examined them and handed the cards to a small secretary next to him who flipped through a guest-book and crossed off their names. The man then opened the doors and whispered to a man on the inside.

"Third Division Lieutenant Kira Izuru," The man announced in a voice loud enough to be heard inside. "Fifth Division Lieutenant Momo Hinamori. Sixth Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai."

Renji exchanged a smile with his two friends and stood a little taller, bemused. He'd never had anyone announce his name before. With the three of them arm in arm against the masses of the rich and famous, they walked shoulder to shoulder into the fray.

* * *

**I don't know if it's just me, but the way I picture Renji looking in the formal uniform... he looks totally hot in it. *sigh* I wish I could draw, I'd fully do a fanart for it.**

**Pssst! Reveiws are love... love me?**


	4. Pariah

It wasn't as bad as she'd been dreading all week. It was _worse_.

People couldn't afford to offend the Kuchiki clan by shunning her outright, they paid their respects when she greeted them and exchanged polite smiles with her, but it was quickly clear to her that she had lost whatever tiny modicum of respect she had ever gained with her shenanigans in the living world.

:_That's fine_,: she consoled herself as yet another noble girl wandered off. :_I never fit in around here anyway and my real friends are worth a thousand of those old cats._:

She steeled her will and straightened her spine, presenting the room with a facade that suggested that she didn't care at all what their opinions of her were, that they were, in fact, a little beneath her. It wasn't true, but they didn't know that and if they were going to ostracize her she was at least going to maintain her dignity by not embarrassing herself. The only thing she really wanted to right then was find a nice quiet darkened corner out of the way and hide herself in it, but she was Kuchiki, and she had a duty to her family. She had to uphold her noble title and place.

Her entrance had been nothing short of something out of a nightmare for her. When the herald had announced her brothers (and her own) arrival and she'd stood at the top of the stairs that led from the entrance down into the room with him, she'd fervently wished that she could just disappear. It had felt like every eye in the room had been on her and the whispers about her and her recent exploits sounded louder than the music. Her _dear _brother had been of no help whatsoever, she hadn't even gotten to hide in his shadow seeing as he was escorting her by the arm, side by side, into the room. He hadn't even glanced over at her... a reassuring squeeze on her hand, was that too much to ask? She sometimes wondered if she'd just _imagined _the thawing in their formerly distant relationship after her near-execution. Certainly he hadn't seemed to notice how nervous she was, Rukia had thought she might be physically ill on the spot, but fortunately that Kuchiki Training had prevented it.

She looked down at her new dress. Whatever else his faults, no-one could say that Byakuya Kuchiki didn't have _exquisite _taste. The dress was made of a specially treated silk that looked black on the surface but when the light hit it, it changed subtly to a lovely shade of indigo blue that exactly matched the shade of her eyes. She wasn't sure how he'd done it, but Elder Brother had found a way around the rules that said that all active Soul Reapers had to wear their Zanpaktou on them, even to formal events so there wasn't anything that would ruin the elegant line of her dress. The torso with its supporting corset underneath was strapless, the neckline a rounded line up across her breasts, the upper hem of which was encrusted with a strip of tanzanite-colored crystal beads twined with silver thread that glittered in the light like starlight sparkling on water. The torso was also beaded down the front in subtle rain-like patterns that flowed in lines down the skirt. The skirt, also made of that specially treated silk, belled out elegantly from her waistline fading from a dark beaded black-and-tanzanite torso-piece to a lighter more-indigo-than-black at the skirt was furthermore slitted elegantly so that peekaboo panels of silk completely encrusted with beadwork of tanzanite crystals thick enough that none of the actual silk showed through and it was all pure glimmer, revealed themselves at a movement from her. The back of the torso dipped from a high front, swooping around to a low back which as laced across her back by beaded ribbons of tanzanite and silver. The slight, chapel-length train of her dress was beaded and embroidered heavily with a more intricate pattern than the one that flowed down from her torso. She had matching gloves with more tanzanite crystal beadwork. The tanzanite and silver-edged neckline of the strapless gown was held up by the corset that constricted around her torso like a giant squeezing python.

:If I wanted to have the breath squeezed out of me,: she grumbled to herself. :I would ask Renji to pull out his snake-Bankai.:

The skirt was full and elegant in its simplicity, (if you didn't count the beadwork peekaboo panels that was) and thankfully there was only a very very small train this time. Black and indigo beads drifted in rain-like patterns, thicker at the place where the skirt belled out at her waist and thinning out as they fell toward the hem at the floor. Platinum and tanzanite matching jewelry glittered tastefully from her ears, right middle finger, neckline and wrist. She had an intricate wreath of diamond and tanzanite pinned into her up-styled hair as well. At least if she was going to be ostracized she could look _good _while doing it.

:_And to think, I could be back at Ichigo's watching a movie_,: she grumbled to herself.

Instead she was here, trailing through the glittering throng in her brother's wake, with a brightly false smile pasted on her face, trying to be polite to people she didn't like who she knew didn't like her.

:_Why the hell did I ever say yes_?!: she wondered to herself. She should _never _have listened to Renji.

:_Join the nobility, he says. Eat the good food he says. It'll be good for the career he says,_: she grumbled in her own thoughts.

It _would _have been the good life... if only she didn't have to spend so much of her time surrounded by other nobility. She wasn't good at making friends but she hated to be alone.

And being with her _dear _brother. Byakuya Kuchiki, was as good as being alone.

"Sixth Squad Lieutenant Renji Abarai!" the herald, whom she had tuned out for the entire evening suddenly caught her undivided attention.

Rukia pivoted suddenly on her heel, almost by reflex, to see for herself because she wasn't certain that she could believe her ears. Renji's dislike of the nobility was infamous, it couldn't _possibly _be him!

But there he was, dressed for the first time she'd ever seen him, in the formal, form-fitting black uniform of the Soul Reapers, with his usually messy crimson hair braided neatly behind him.

He stood tall and straight, Zabimaru hung quiescent at his side in a dress scabbard. Sober and confident, he faced the entire room without a single flicker of fear (where-as she just wanted to find a nice quiet corner to shrink into). She had to admit, the formal garb looked good on him, even his outlandish tatoos and the way he groomed his hair didn't quite detract from the overall sobering effect of the black dress-uniform. The coat made him look even taller and broader than he usually appeared naturally, giving him an additional aura of presence. The fact that the right side of his chest displayed a shocking amount of pipped-ribbons and medals to tell even the most dense that _this _was a man who'd been through some battles probably didn't hurt either.

Rukia noted with a sharp pang of jealousy that he was side by side with two of his friends; the fragile Hinamori gripped his elbow as she tried not to stare at the room like a frightened deer from the top of the short staircase. On the other side of Hinamori, looking even better in the dark black uniform, was Kira Izuru (blondes were made to wear those things). The three of them scanned the room for a moment and Izuru seemed to spot someone for he gave a wordless nod of his head and he and Renji escorted a panicked-looking Momo off in one direction. Izuru smiled encouragingly down at the frail young woman when she looked like she desperately wanted to bolt and Renji patted her on the arm, saying something encouraging.

Rukia's jealousy deepened, aimed at Hinamori this time..._ she'd_ felt as nervous inside as the girl _looked _on the outside and _she_'_d_ had to carry it alone. Her brother had chided her and dismissed her fears as silly when she'd hesitantly mentioned them to him and _then _told her that, as a Kuchiki, she had no place being a coward. When their names had been announced she'd felt all alone up there because Byakuya had already been descending the steps without a backwards glance while her knees had frozen up and her stomach had clenched so hard she'd thought she might thow up. Rukia hadn't had anyone at _her _side to encourage her and grip her hands onto, because Byakuya _clearly _didn't count.

:_If he was going anyway, he could have asked **me**_!: she thought furiously to herself, unaccountably angry with him for being there and not checking with her about it. But she realized a moment later that the thought was a foolish one for many reasons, first-off, he and everyone else knew that she would already be attending at her brother's side, if Renji were to have asked her to go with him he'd have had to okay it with her brother first. As they would say in the Rukon District... no fuckin' way.

"Someone finally gave the mangy dog a bath," Byakuya murmured softly. His tone sounded ever so slightly condescending to her right then.

Rukia wasn't aware that her elbow had shot out until it impacted sharply in his side. She stared at the offending limb that had suddenly grown a mind of its own with distant horror and looked up at her brother in dismay.

"Did you just elbow me?" he asked curiously.

Rukia ducked her head and tried to shrink into the shadows.

"I-It was a mistake," she lied. "I, uh, turned too sharply."

Yeah she'd go with that, it was plausible. Her brother seemed to accept it for he nodded without comment and then said.

"I must go give my respects to our hostess. Rukia, you should go and mingle with the gueasts."

Rukia's stomach clenched all over again. This was absolutely, hands down, the _worst _part of the evening for her. Without her brother at her side she had no shadow to hide in, no cover to protect her from the gossip-mongers and the irritating males hanging about for titles and fortunes. She was expected to dance and smile to pretend she was enjoying herself and make idle chit-chat with people who's names she desperately tried to remember because later on her brother would interrogate... er, _ask politely_ about with whom she had danced and what they had discussed. Her face was the same calm mask she had developed over the years but inside she was panicking. The dress didn't help much when her chest clenched as she watched her brother walk away without even looking back once.

There she was, lost in the crowd again. The bright silks and satins of the ballgowns swayed and whispered around her, the hum of chatter and the soft strain of violins seemed to suddenly become louder and she felt like she was underwater, unable to move or breathe. The lights felt too bright as she tried not to tremble in fear, knowing that people were looking her way, talking about her, wondering which ones were saying what. She wanted desperately to shrink into the shadows but she was a Kuchiki and she did not have that luxury, she had to be out there displaying the pride and honor of the Kuchiki name. Alone.

She glanced around her, with a mixture of hope and mystification; usually some sycophant would have approached her by now, desperate to introduce himself and get his family name in there, but only couples swirled in eddies around her and they ignored her like she didn't exist. She realized after a moment of trying to catch the eye of some whom she sort of recognized and thought she might know who suddenly found someplace else to be (with sly glances exchanged between them and their friends) that they were definitely doing it on _purpose_. She was a Kuchiki, but she was **Rukia **Kuchiki... the Soul Reaper who had broke one of the primary rules of the Soul Society by giving her powers to a mortal and had been sentenced to execution. It was just as she'd feared. No-one wanted to know her.

Rukia stood there in the center of the ballroom, stock still as couples waltzed around her, and trembled, trying to keep from bursting into tears. She was a Kuchiki and she did not have that luxury. But it was hard to maintain a cool facade when the realization of what she faced sank in. She was completely alone. Not even her title was going to be able to impress these people enough for them to like her, and now that she'd managed to tarnish her name in their eyes she wasn't even worth _pretending _towards. She must have been out of her mind to accept, she mush have been crazy to think she could ever fit in with these people! In their eyes she'd always be common, no better or more necessary than the dust beneath their feet and for a moment she was flooded with rage and a little hatred, fully as strong as she and Renji had _ever _felt it out in the Rukon District, aimed at all those useless parasites who called themselves nobility and pretended they were better than everyone. The anger that flooded her at the faceless glittering throng before her at last gave her enough strength (even if only temporary strength) to move again. She headed towards the spread of hors d'ouvres, knowing that she'd be able to follow her older brothers command that she remain visible at all times in that place as well as find something to occupy her hands with. If nothing else, Lady Inori spared no expense when it came to dressing a table, there would be all sorts of special delicacies there. Maybe if she was polite enough, somebody would talk to her. She could hope. She tried to force her hands not to tremble. She could do this, she could! She was a Kuchiki, she had to!

* * *

**There it is, chapter four. I gotta say, I know how she feels a little bit, i hate crowded parties where I barely know anyone**. **It must be worse for her since she's got a name to live up to. Everyone watching her like that can't be comfortable. **

**Reviews are love... love me?  
**


	5. Alpha Male

Renji supported poor little Momo's other arm, and all but physically dragged her on her other side in the direction that Kira said he'd spotted his relatives.

"Don't worry," the blonde nobleman assured them both. "They'll like you. They're nice people. My little sister had her coming-out last year, so she'll be here along with my two older brothers, and my uncle probably."

"Wow, a whole mob of Izuru's," Renji drawled teasingly. "Do they all have the unibang or is that just you?"

"Can't we just go home?" Momo begged. "I feel sick."

"It'll wear off," Renji replied firmly. "Stop holding your breath or you'll pass out."

"I'm gonna pass out even if I don't," she said shakily.

Renji could feel her muscles trembling where she clutched his arm. He didn't really blame her, he was _utterly _out of his element. Surrounded by rich people, and he just _knew _they were all staring at him and his tatoos. If anyone had any right to be nervous, it was _him_; at least those two were nobility of one sort or another, what the hell was he doing here?

:_Here for a friend_,: he told himself.

He'd already resolved that he was just gonna treat this like any other battle, but it was just one where he couldn't rely on Zabimaru's strength to win it. So that heart-pounding thing _wasn_'t nerves, he firmly told himself, it was excitement and anticipation. No matter where they were or what their backgrounds, people were people... and Renji _knew _people. He might look like a punk, but he didn't get to where he was without being able to read people pretty good (granted they could still surprise a guy, but that was just the way people were). He wasn't trying to become one of the tight-waisted pansies, after all, all he had to do was make them like him for an evening. No problem! Most of them were women, and single ones at that, growing up as a small child with "onii-sans" from the Barai House had given him something of a certain comfort level when it came to making women like him. Tease them a little, make them laugh, compliment them on a feature they probably don't hear about as often, keep his body language open and smile at them with his "nice smile" the one he used on the nurses when he wanted extra food rather than the one he used when he was looking forward to a good fight. Keep his body language open and his manner easy and genial... and try not to sound stupid. It wasn't so hard to make people like him for some reason. He'd never figured out why Rukia always seemed to have such a hard time of it when she had so much to recommend her aside of the Kuchiki thing.

_:I wonder if I should go find her_,: he thought and then dismissed the notion with a shake of his head.

He didn't want to cramp her style after all. She was probably surrounded by admirers and he didn't want to muscle in on her good time. He ignored the little pang that was not jealousy at the thought of her surrounded by a knot of beaus vying for her attention. There was also the matter of her brother, he was probably looming at her back doing that cold _look _of his... Renji got enough of that at work.

Besides, he was here to get Momo out there and mingling with normal people... or at least as normal as nobility ever got.

"You're not going to pass out," Kira replied to her rejoinder. "Just take deep breaths, you're almost there."

Renji spotted them from where he was (of course, he was half a head above most of the other guys in the room) a small cluster of blonde-haired, blue eyed people in formal attire.

"Renji, Momo, this is my oldest brother Hiroyuki, my second oldest brother Tasuke and my little sister Eimi," Kira said, making the introductions.

"How do you do?" they asked in turn with a very slight bow and a little curtsey on Eimi's part. Momo blushed and tried to shrink back but Renji subtly put his hand on her back and pressured her forward as he smiled over at them with easy calm and said.

"It's nice to meet Izuru's family, I'm Renji by the way."

"We know, he used to write home about you all the time when you were in the academy together," the younger sister Eimi replied, smiling up at him her gaze drifting to the tatoos on his forehead then down to the medals on the right side of his chest. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Renji privately sized up the three of them, the older sibs were sober, political-looking types, probably spent most of their time discussing useless crap with a small knot of like-minded peers. Eimi however... she was _cute_, doll-faced with her golden blonde hair all up in ringlets, she had an open, naive-looking face but had that aura about her that told him that she was nice to about everyone and most people she came across liked her. If he wanted to get introduced around she was the one to do it.

"It's amazing that you're all Lieutenants together," the second brother said. "From the letters home Kira indicated that you were all in the same class together and yet managed to rise through the ranks so quickly. It is... unusual."

He was also looking up at Renji's tatoos.

"Kira's smart, Momo's commander has no common sense, and as for me... well, I guess you could say that ya can't keep a good dog down," Renji grinned over at him with a gallic shrug of his shoulders.

"Hey! _Who _has no common sense?" Momo snapped, just as he had intended her to. "I'll have you know that I'm a very good lieutenant, so there."

"I stand corrected," Renji said easily. "And Kira never said he had such a cute little sister or I'd have begged to stay at his place on breaks."

She giggled and blushed when he gave her his most food-winning smile. The one that Unohana chided him not to unleash on an unsuspecting nursing staff because she had a clinic to run and if he distracted her nurses she'd give him extra inoculations... and they wouldn't be in the _arm _either.

"Gee, he never said what a nice guy you are," Eimi said, smiling up at him with the barest trace of pout to let him know she was flirting with him. "I'll have to introduce you to my friends."

And he was in.

"You must have a lot of them," Renji followed up. "A girl with such lovely, delicate wrists couldn't possibly be unpopular. You can always tell a lot about a person by their wrists."

Like how easy it was going to be to snap them and incapacitate them in a fight, but he didn't say that. Eimi gave him an enchanted smile with dimples in it. Yep, she was popular alright.

"Hey Renji," Kira said, only partly joking. "Stay away from my sister."

"You stay out of it mister," she commanded him, stamping her foot a little and huffing. "I know where you live."

"And with the threat of doom hanging over my head," Kira said, taking Momo by the arm and sweeping her off. "I think it's time we danced."

Momo looked clearly relieved as Kira swept her off to the floor filled with whirling couples. Renji was left standing looking after them mostly left by himself to his own devices. He'd just been ditched. After all the trouble they'd taken to drag him here they'd up and _ditched _him! _So _not right.

"Look, there's my friend Mizuni now," she said cupping his elbow and pulling him along. "I'll introduce you."

Renji knew perfectly well that he was being used as an excuse to get out of the stuffy, overbearing protective regard of her two (three really) older brothers but was also perfectly willing to go along with it. Eimi glided over to a large circle of young men and women standing around and talking, some were laughing, others trading surreptitious pointed glances about, indicating that they were talking about certain peoples attending the fete without their knowing it.

_:Tch! Nobles. At least in Rukon, or even in Eleventh, if a guy had a problem with you he'd tell you to your face... usually with his fist_.:

"This is my brother Kira's friend Lieutenant Renji Abarai," she started. Then she rattled off introductions and Renji tried to place names to faces. Usually he picked an obvious and glaring feature like 'red-dress' or 'large breasts' or 'short and round guy,' then afixed the first letter of the person's name to the end of it. It usually helped him remember names. Lieutenant Yachiru actually had some surprisingly useful ideas every now and again.

He was a bit bemused to see their mostly uniform reaction upon being introduced to him. Their eyes flicked to his forehead with various degrees of dubiousness on their faces, wondering without saying so why their friend had come over to introduce such an obvious weirdo into the midst of their coterie when he clearly belonged on the outside being talked about instead being brought into the discussion. Then their eyes flicked to his chest, widened slightly and then their faces usually blanked as they came to whatever conclusion best fitted their own personality types. In addition, after seeing the glim on his chest a lot of the young men inched ever so closely to the women they were currently trying to chat up as soon as little Eimi peeled off his arm and went to talk to two of her girl-friends. His purpose was apparently fulfilled and she had fulfilled her own obligation to him with the introduction.

"So, you're in the Sixth Squadron, the one with the Kuchiki as the Captain correct?" a young man said.

His voice wasn't loud exactly and one would call his tone conversational but it carried just enough. It was a subtle challenge.

:_Alpha male_,: Renji recognized immediately.

He was the group leader, that guy standing over to his left chatting up two women nearby who had glanced over at the sound of the guy's voice was his second. Three guys on the right subtly inching their way closer were only slightly lower. the guys glancing disinterestedly over from their knots on the side to see what was going on were lower than that and considered themselves part of another sub-sect. Another woman eyed him sharply and Renji scented alpha on her, evidenced by the way Eimi glanced quickly over at her.

"That's the one," Renji said, keeping his posture relaxed (or as relaxed as it got in that damned coat) and his hands visible as he deftly snatched a crystal flute of some light-colored drink that looked vaguely like piss but smelled enough like booze for Renji to be happy to acquire it.

"What's that like Lieutenant?" he asked, stressing the rank ever so subtly and straightening, while keeping a pleasant smile on his face.

The die was cast and Renji knew exactly what to do with it to get in good and yet not be a threat to the little noble-thug's status. Everyone loved a clown and no-one was threatened by one, and they often held a special kind of outside status in a group, welcome as a member but just as free to wander.

"Would you really like to know?" Renji asked, smiling genially at him.

"Dazzle us," he didn't quite sneer. He was asserting his authority.

"It's a pain in the butt," Renji grinned. "The captains hand most of the paperwork onto their lieutenants... they call it "delegating" but we all know what it is. And whatever weird assignment that requires a high-ranked squad member to be present at and they don't feel like going to, gets handed over to us. I once had to sit through a two-hour-long rant by Kuro-kookie about how great his scientific method was and how he was going to clone an army of robots to rearrange all the books in his library or some crazy scheme like that. Half of the rant was just him doing that creepy mad-scientist cackle. I'm telling you, don't ever get pinned into talking with him. _Ever_."

It had the exact effect he'd been hoping for. Most of the group burst out laughing. Even the alpha male challenger smirked a little and his posture relaxed. Renji was no threat to him. Renji followed up quickly with a story about the time he and Kira had been ordered by their captain in fifth to run a patrol in the world of the living and had accidentally run afoul of some of those supposed "ghost hunters" with their weird machines that were supposed to be able to detect and contain ghosts.

"...I'm not kidding, the guy looked like a reject from Kuro-kookie's lab, he was strapped with all kinds of useless crap! Pointing rods in the air and walking around with some kind of detector device that's supposed to pick up some kind of electro-magneto-whatsit... Crazy humans. So the guy walks right through Kira, doesn't even _pause_. I'm making faces behind his back, and up pops this Hollow..."

He spins the crazy story out, garnering laughs, and it wasn't long before he was surrounded by a laughing coterie. Che, nobles weren't so hard. Renji didn't fool himself into thinking they actually _liked _him however, he was smarter than that. He was a novelty of the moment, someone amusing with a way of telling stories that they hadn't heard at least a thousand times over. As soon as he drifted off they'd be talking about him, debating back and forth about his strange tatoos and speculating about how he'd made it up the ranks so fast when they'd never heard of him or his family before. Let 'em.

He tried not to look like he was looking for her but he kept expecting that any minute Rukia was going to come swanning over either with her brother or on the arm of some stupid little aristocrat to say hello. After a while he wondered if she ignoring him on purpose. He hadn't seen her yet. It was clear from the number of glimpses he'd gotten of a blonde head dancing with a shorter dark haired woman in black that Momo and Kira weren't going to be looking for him anytime soon. He was more or less stuck there, entertaining a bunch of rich people he didn't know. Granted, he was good at it (this was his third story and the laughter hadn't stopped_ but their alcohol was weak and the music sucked. Give him a night at the bar with his buddies any day over this tight-waisted pansy-ass bullshit.

"... certainly seem to have decorations enough on your own merits without adding any more," one young twit in a purple dress said to him placing her hand not-so-subtly on his arm and squeezing. In the Rukon District that was considered and invitation but he wasn't sure what the standard was among the nobility. Then he noted her pulling her shoulders back to display her chest a little more prominently.

:_Ah, same thing then_.:

Renji politely ignored the invite. He wasn't interested in her and he didn't want to have to fight furious relatives who caught her fooling around with some no-name from the outer districts when they probably already had a marriage planned for her.

"Oh these?" he said, gesturing to the multi-colored pasteboard of stripes that commemorated the various battles he'd been in over the years.

"I've seen some action," he allowed, with an indifferent shrug.

"How much action?" she asked next. There was a look in her eyes that betrayed a double meaning to her words and invited him to join in.

"Yes, how much? You must be very strong to have so many medals," another girl, some twit in yellow said from his other side. There were a couple of ladies around him that's he'd been entertaining for the last while. The young men had all drifted off unable or unwilling to compete for their attention. Wimps.

"Yes very strong," the twit in purple agreed, crowding in just a little closer and ever so subtly nudging infront of her competitor in yellow. The two exchanged a lightning fast look, barely perceptible to the male eyes. Renji picked it up and smelled trouble.

_:Imminent cat-fight. Abort! Abort_!: his instincts screamed at him. He thought fast and pulled out his most dazzling smile and bowed ingratiatingly to the ladies.

"It _pains _me to have to leave the company of the prettiest girls in the room," he said, injecting regret into his voice. "But unfortunately, duty calls. You understand."

Byakuya Kuchiki was no-where in sight but they didn't know whether or not he'd arranged to meet before hand. For all they knew Renji was slacking off by talking to them and the very fact that the two of them were at the same party at all seemed confirmation enough in their minds that Renji was there on orders.

"Ohhh," the twit in yellow said in disappointment.

"Do you have to go?" purple said in a silly attempt at a sultry tone. "We were just getting to know one another."

"No rest for the wicked," he said detaching her hand and bowing over it, then glancing up at her with his most boyish dashing smile. With that he easily disappeared into the crowd. He tried not to look relieved at his escape. Where the hell were Kira and Momo, hadn't they ditched him for long enough?

:_Well, since I said so already, there's no point in not stopping to chat with probably the only other two people in this room that I know_,: he thought to himself.

He knew full well that it was an excuse to see her, and _no_, it was not because he was curious to see if she'd be as impressed by him in this formal rig-out as everyone else seemed to be. That was his story and he was sticking to it.

* * *

**Yay! Update! Hope you enjoyed it, the next chapter is probably my favorite one out of all of them. In any case, leave a reveiw if you liked it.**


	6. Drinking and Dancing

_:I should just go hang myself for being too pathetic to be allowed to live_,: she thought miserably a half and hour after her brother had left her on her own while he went to talk politics with some of the other heads of the noble houses and their wives. She hadn't left her self imposed post near the buffet table, close enough to be noticeable but far enough away to not be looking like she was hanging around the communal trough. No-one had approached her or caught her eye. She felt invisible, and worse.

Rukia had just had the capper put on her evening a few minutes ago when she had glanced over at a particularly boisterous group of laughing young women to see what was so funny and had caught sight of Renji, surrounded by a whole _flock _of laughing, flirting women, keeping them all dancing in the palm of his hands with his stupid easy charm and that _smarmy _smile. She had felt a mixture of irritation, anger and depression all at once... he wasn't even really supposed to be here, sure he had an invitation just like all of the other officers but Renji didn't like the aristocracy, so what was he doing at one of thier functions surrounded by a gaggle of women and chatting up people and generally being as easily popular as he ever was. _She_ was supposed to be the on who _belonged _here, why was _he _having such an easy time getting to know people?! It was not fair!

Rukia glanced back over to where she'd seen him earlier, and sure enough, there he was, that easy charm of his out in full force, smiling away while the people who surrounded him hung on his every word. One woman in a purple dress put her hand on his bicep wearing one of those covert admiring looks Rukia had seen time and again over the years... she was trying to start something. She had competition though. A woman in a yellow dress was clinging to his other arm like a limpet, and eying him like she wanted to eat him whenever she thought no-one was looking. Abruptly Renji gave them one last parting smile, bowed over the hand he'd gently detached from his arm and gave them one last smile that (it looked like) had made some of the women's knees go a little weak, and strolled off, leaving the girls staring after him. That was more like it. Rukia was maybe the only one to see Renji roll his eyes.

:_He shows up, charms more people in ten minutes than I usually manage to talk to in an entire evening, saunters off without anyone feeling like they've been slighted and... How the hell does he do it_?!: Rukia wailed to herself. Her shoulders sank with depression. He'd _always _made friends so much more easily than she ever had, out on the streets, in the academy or even here. Even in a world where she was supposed to have all the advantages, he still managed to hold all the cards.

:_Yep_,: she thought snatching at a glass of champagne from the delicate crystal pyramid on the display table. :_Definitely too pathetic to be allowed to live.:_

Usually her brother discouraged her away from the drink, citing that it was unseemly for a Kuchiki to be caught drinking in public like a common lush. A tiny little impish part of her that had yet to be tamed by the Kuchiki Training suggested that they saved all of their drinking for in private.

:_Hey, this is actually pretty good_!: Rukia thought in surprise when she had slowed down enough to taste it. She was mostly to the bottom of that one so she quickly grabbed another one and started in on it.

:_Hm, even with that funny under-taste it sort of tastes like... raspberries maybe? Or it's kind of floral tasting too_...:

She kept gulping it down, trying to figure out exactly what the flavor under the alcohol reminded her of. She hadn't quite figured it out by the end of the second glass, so she picked out a third. By this point she noted vaguely that she wasn't feeling _nearly _so badly as she had been a second ago, in fact... she felt a whole lot _better_! The lights and colors and movement in the room looked so very pretty. She felt a little contented smile on her face as her head swayed a little on its neck in time to the music. The warmth of the drink roiling in her belly made her feel all pleasantly warm and comfy and relaxed, like she was sitting in front of a cozy fire.

_:It even feels kinda peaceful now_,: she thought with distant pleasantness as she watched the lights and colors swirl around her like some pleasant waking dream. She was filled with a flushed, peaceful feeling.

She liked it quite a bit so she started drinking the third one, thinking that it'd make the fire spreading in her tummy a little bigger. She had gulped down about half of the glassful and was taking a breather to listen to the music when a strong, warm hand gently pushed down on her wrist when she moved to bring the glass up to finish her drink.

"E-e-e-easy there champ," a deep but friendly voice said from just behind and above her.

She recognized Renji right away of course, not just by his voice and reiatsu alone, but he _had _to be the only man at this party with tribal tatoos on his wrist poking out from under the cuff of his formal uniform. He deftly took the glass from out of her numb fingers and gently turned her to look at him. He was frowning.

"Where's yer brother?" he demanded, looking around.

Rukia gestured vaguely out to the rest of the room.

"Politicking with the Heads of Houses," she said suddenly feeling a little sleepy. "He does every time we come to these things."

"And he left you alone?" Renji growled. "That idiot."

"I can take care of myself," she said defensively, stung by the implication that she needed looking after like she was some kind of small child or something.

"Sure ya can," he assured her, sounding more than a little condescending. "This from the woman who nearly got herself executed on her first mission away from the Seireitei."

"Hey!" she snapped, nettled. That had been with some unexpected and extenuating circumstances!

"Now don't get yer knickers in a twist Rukia," he said, he said, deftly plucking the champagne flute from nerveless fingers and he turned her toward him to look at her more closely, but his look was piercing and intent, resembling more a doctors examining look than anything else.

His finger grasped her chin gently but firmly, making her look up at him while he frowned down at her a bit. His massive presence seemed to loom over her. Rukia normally didn't think much of their height difference, the top of her head didn't even come to his shoulder, and she felt a little confused as to why she'd be so suddenly aware of it _now_.

:_Wow... never noticed it much before_,: she thought vaguely, in a pleasant sleepy way. :_But his eyes are really dark brown_.:

He glanced over to her little collection of wine glasses and looked annoyed.

"Here," he said cuppine her elbow in a firm grip and turning toward a nearby bank of french doors leading out to a garden. "Let's get you some air."

"I can't," she protested, reminded suddenly that she had a job to do or her brother would be upset. "I have to mingle."

Renji looked at her with a strangely perplexed look.

"Brother will be upset if I don't mingle," she explained.

Renji smiled down at her, it was that soft, sincere smile that really only _she _got to see. _Other people _got either his smarmy, 'give me food' smile or his fierce, sharp 'let's have a good fight' smile, but only _she _got his really soft, sweet smile.

:_Hmph_!: she thought with an inward little toss of her head. :_Those silly girls have **nothing **on me_!:

"Then let's mingle," he said warmly. "You can show me around a bit."

Rukia ducked her head and looked sad.

"No-one'll talk to me," she said, trying not to show how helplessly sad she felt about it.

"Whaddya mean no-one'll talk to you?" he said disbelieving. "You're Rukia Kuchiki. I bet everyone's just _dying _to know you."

"Not anymore," she mumbled. "Even though Brother is the Head of the Kuchiki Clan they really didn't talk with me a whole lot _before, _unless they were name-droppin', an' now that I nearly got executed for breaking the rules..."

Rukia felt her thoat tighten up and tears sting her eyes and felt a panicked moment when her mask wouldn't come out like it was supposed to. She ducked her head down and away so he wouldn't see. She hadn't counted on their bond however and he sensed it anyway.

"Rukia lookit me," he said firmly, putting a hand on either shoulder. She tried to keep her head bowed to hide her face but he was having none of it.

"Up here," he said. She raised her head.

"Yer too good fer these assholes. Doncha _dare _let 'em get to ya. They're all a bunch of tight-assed pansies anyway and yer worth a hunerd of 'em put together. You could kick the crap out of any of those kids back there and that's a fact, so how are they bringin' tears to yer eyes?"

"I'm not crying!" she protested hoarsely around the lump in her throat. "It's just that... I'm not like _you_. I don't make friends where ever I go. If I wasn't a Kuchiki, nobody'd wanna know me."

"Bullshit," Renji said with low vehemence.

"It's not!" she said. "I saw you earlier, you hadn't been there ten minutes and you were surrounded by friends."

Renji snorted.

"Those people weren't my friends," he said. "If we passed each other on the street they wouldn't know me. If I waved at them tomorrow they wouldn't wave back."

"And it was the same in the academy too," Rukia said, as if she hadn't heard him. "You made all sorts of friends in your classes but no-one ever even seemed to see me at all. I wound up relying on you my whole time there."

"You relied on me? Really?" For some reason that seemed to make him happy.

"Maybe I'm better suited to being a Kuchiki after all, Brother never socializes with anyone."

"Ain't that the truth," Renji muttered. He shook his head.

"Well, I thought I'd give the boss a chance to redeem himself, seeing as he failed so miserably with the execution thing," Renji said. "But I guess I grossly overestimated his ability at being a member of a family. He really should know better than t' leave you all by yerself. Tch! stupid prat."

"He's not stupid," Rukia protested immediately.

"But he is a prat," Renji nodded to himself.

Rukia, full of wine, couldn't find it in herself to deny it.

"C'mon, stick with me kid," he said confidently, placing her arm in his. "We'll mingle a bit. You'll see, we'll have you socializing in no time."

"R-really?" she said trying hard not to sound pathetically hopeful.

"Sure," he said, with an easy wave of his hand and that winning smile of his. "It's easy."

Rukia looked at him dubiously, but didn't protest as he led her off by the arm. He was a strong, secure presence by her side. His tall, broad shoulders felt like a wall at her back and suddenly Rukia found her spine straightening and her chin lifting. She no longer looked longingly at the shadows around the edges of the room, wishing she could melt into one of them.

"So, this is what you aristocrats do for fun, eh?" he asked, strolling along one side of the room, seeming to project an aura of himself owning the joint. He could do that when he wanted to, she didn't know if it was some kind of reiatsu trick she'd never heard of or if it was because he was tall, or _what_, but when Renji chose to he could exude this aura of charisma that could have people from twenty paces looking at him differently.

"Yeah, pretty much from what I can tell," Rukia agreed, watching the swirls and eddies of people dancing and mingling and talking.

It was strange, but with her hand tucked firmly in his arm she seemed to see the whole room different, always before it had been like there was an invisible wall around her with some kind of beacon placed above it, peoples eyes had always seemed to dart over to her but they'd never approached. It had always made her feel so very isolated. As a Kuchiki she'd been taught to stand proudly on her own, like a mountain top, but she had certainly never enjoyed it. There had been days when she'd desperately wished she'd never even left the Rukon District. Now, with Renji at her side she could look out at the room and see, not people who were not willing to talk to her, but people who were too self-absorbed for her to have to pay attention to. If they didn't want to talk to her, it was _their _loss, not hers. Rukia had followed the path she believed in and how many of _those _people could say the same?

"This bites," Renji said while smiling his falsely bright, lying-gentlemanly smile and inclining his head politely at one couple who happened to catch his eye. The woman snapped open her fan open and the man eyed Renji's tatoos and his medals nervously.

"There's always the dancing," she said. She wasn't quite sure she was up for dancing though, her head still felt just a trifle buzzingly tipsy.

"Good idea, you need to work off some of that alcohol you just downed there lightweight," Renji grinned down at her and winked. She found herself smiling back up at him.

"You don't know how to dance," she scoffed.

Renji was from the same place she was after all, and judging by all of those stripes and medals that decorated his chest, the only thing he could _possibly _have been learning in the time they'd been separated was how to kill things better. It had taken her dancing instructor weeks to teach her what to do with her feet, there was no way he could earn that many medals and have time to pick up dancing as well.

"Who says I don't?" he smiled down at her and bowed over her hand. "Shall we dance?"

She raised an eyebrow in disbelief and placed her hand in his, allowing him to lead her out to the floor where the dancers had paused, waiting for the next set to begin. Couples detached, and others formed and the opening strains of a waltz introduced themselves. Renji bowed again, as he was supposed to, and grinned a mischievous boys grin at her up at her from the bow. It was the wine that was the reason for her face flushing. Really.

The music started in earnest and he deftly pulled her into his arms and swept her off, moving as expertly among the whirling forms of the dancing couples as he ever did on a battlefield filled with Hollows. She was surprised to note that he performed each step perfectly, never once faltering or missing a beat. Her surprise must have shown on her face because when he pulled her back in close with his arms around her from spinning her out and in and smiled at her and said

"Why so surprised Kuchiki? Think I came to embarrass you?"

"Not at all," she said mildly, looking up at him. "Just surprised, that's all. Where did you learn to dance?"

Renji cleared his throat and looked to the side, his face straightening. Rukia recognized the look from long ago, it was the one he wore, even as a little boy, when he had something he didn't want to reveal because it was unmanly. Of course she wasn't going to let it go at that.

"C'mon Renji," she said, smiling wider at him and poking him in the side with her free hand. "A big, tough guy like you wouldn't have learned it from killing Hollows, so someone had to have taught you."

Renji spun her out again, by the enigmatic smile on his face and the shake of his head, he'd done it to avoid answering her question.

"Tell meee," she sing-songed when he pulled her back to him, hand around her waist as he turned her in time to the music.

Rukia was surprised to find that she liked that part of the dance the best. She was feeling strangely giddy with delight when he put his (she sudden;y noticed that they were) strong arms around her waist, and she couldn't help the happy smile on her face. It was just like old times, minus the silk ball gown and the dancing, just him and her and them being able to rely on each other again. It felt like a part of her life that had been missing was now there, like an amputated limb suddenly restored to her.

"No-way," he scoffed. "The fact that I can is what's important."

Rukia even found she sort of liked the way her cumbersome, stupid skirt felt as it swayed around her when he maneuvered her through the turns in the dance. Always before she'd felt so self-conscious, trying to remember which steps came next while simultaneously trying to keep track of whatever the hell the boy she was dancing with was saying. Not now though, the way they moved together felt perfectly natural, she found herself for the first time ever not wondering about who was watching her and what they were saying but actually enjoying herself.

"I say, excuse me," a young man said after tapping him on the shoulder. Renji looked over, non-plussed.

"The Hell d'ya want?" he asked flatly, his tone saying "piss off" more eloquently than if he'd actually _said _it.

"May I cut in?" he asked even as he spied all the medals dangling from Renji's chest and the mean, narrow-eyed look that Renji did so very well and stepped back a pace.

"No you may not," they said in unison then smiled over at each other and continued to dance.

"I didn't know you had so many honors," Rukia said as they faced each other. "You have four medals and almost all of your ribbons have gold pips on them... I know Reapers that have been in the field four times as long as you and don't have half as many ribbons."

"You sound impressed," he said, grinning at her. His face looked closer to the occasionally sweet (if loud-mouthed, brash and short tempered) boy who had run with her through the streets of Hangdog.

"I guess I sort of am," she admitted. She didn't have any ribbons at all (yet), seeing as she'd bungled her first mission so very badly.

"Well don't be," Renji said. "Sure, I got all of these because of the action, but in the end the only way I measure success is whether or not I've gotten stronger. I still have a ways to go. All this stuff is just eye candy for the stupid."

"You would see things that way wouldn't you?" she murmured, smiling up at him.

"Of course I would," he grumbled. He had that embarrassed-but-trying-to-be-tough-about-it look on his face, and Rukia thought it was kinda cute. What did they put in the champagne?

"How else am I supposed to see it?"

"It's just that I never thought you'd say something so mature," she replied next, only partly teasing him.

"I'm plenty mature," he claimed. "I'm a Vice-Captain ain't I?"

Rukia thought about teasing him about someone obviously having made a clerical error in his favor, but then looked over at the medals on his chest and flashed back to her earlier thoughts about how difficult it had to have been for Renji to climb through the ranks. She held her tongue on the matter and instead said

"I was surprised to see you here."

"Kira talked me into coming because Momo's been... y'know, a little _fragile _lately. He thinks it might do her some good to get her out with people, 'cept that when they got me here, Izuru ditched me with his little sister and went off to dance with Momo. Haven't seen 'em since," he replied, maneuvering her adroitly around a couple who were quite obviously trashed and careening around the dance-floor without looking where they were going. By the way Renji frowned at them Rukia could tell he was thinking about starting something over it.

"Leave it alone Renji," she told him. "With any luck they'll dance right into the punch bowl and people will have something else to talk about besides me."

Renji gave her a serious considering look for a moment, and scanned around the room.

"Hn," he said after a pause. "Leaving you alone when he knows people are gonna be talking about you? Your brother just lost four additional respect points. The prat."

Rukia honestly didn't know what to say to that. Renji had always been protective of her. The dance ended with a flourish and Renji said

"So what next?"

"Mingling?" she said reluctantly. She couldn't help the way her arm tightened in his. She might not be as intimidated by a room full of near strangers with Renji at her side, but she was still intimidated. She wasn't supposed to be, because she was a Kuchiki... but she was.

"Relax," Renji advised her quietly. "Some of these assholes, excuse me, nobles can smell fear."

"R-right, over the perfume?"

"Zat what that is? I was wonderin' about it, smells really nice," he said quietly.

Rukia was ridiculously happy with the compliment. It wasn't often that a guy like him had something nice to say to someone without a qualifier.

"Y'know, for a girly, flowery kinda thing," he added. And there it was.

He led her by the arm in a leisurely circuit of the room. He walked like he hadn't a care in the world and as though he might own the whole room and everything in it if he cared to. She compared his very slight swagger to her brother's coolly confident stride and wondered if they took guys like him aside in the upper level academy classes and taught them how to do that. Still, that aura of confidence he had seemed to instill her with a little more spine of her own and for the first time all night she looked up brightly at the room around her instead of wishing herself anywhere else but here.

"So what's the gossip?" he asked next, smiling impishly at her.

"What gossip?" she asked cluelessly.

"C'mon, in a place like this with all these idle rich people in it? It's _gotta _be an excuse to gossip."

"Probably about me," she muttered, looking down with that sinking feeling of depression.

"Feh, so what if they are?" he snorted. "It's not like these people ever had to fight for anything, how the hell would they know what yer life's about? Besides I bet every single one of these assholes has something to hide."

"Weelllll..." Rukia said, feeling an puckish smile tugging at her lips. "Brother said that paying attention to gossip about one's peers is sport for the _common _but... Well you see that guy over there? That's Lord Hayashibara of the House Korin. The woman he's with? _Not _his wife! He tells everyone that he's escorting his dear young cousin to her coming-out but..."

"Ya don't dance like that with yer dear younger cousin," he finished for her, a matching smile on his face.

"Exactly. And that woman over there is supposed to be Lady Daicha's maid-in-waiting but rumor has it she's actually her illegitimate daughter. Not only that but that the mother is trying to get her dear daughter eloped to some unsuspecting nobleman's son."

"Watch out," Renji said chuckling.

They circled about the room and Rukia actually found herself being very amused by relating salacious gossip about her supposed peers to Renji. When she finally ran out of gossip he suggested that they start making things up and she looked up in shock at him. He just grinned that wicked boyish smile at her and proceeded to do so, picking out a likely sucker at random and making up improbable tales that was so shocking and amusing at the same time that they made her laugh out loud. There went that famous Kuchiki facade she'd worked so hard on. There was no way the shreds of her former aura of dignity and refinement were making it though the constant fits of giggles she suffered at all the outrageous things Renji found to say about people he didn't know. She found that she didn't care in the least.

"Still the same problem huh?" Renji asked quietly.

"I don't know what you mean," Rukia said, sobering a bit at his more serious tone.

"Seeing you drinkin' by yerself tells me that you aren't exactly Miss Popularity here."

Rukia opened her mouth to object that she was popular, really, but the fact was that she wasn't, so she had to content herself with a glare.

"I'm not like you," she grumbled instead. "I can't walk into a room and make everyone my friend."

"I don't see why not," Renji said seriously. "You've got a lot going for you Rukia. You're smart, you're pretty, got a little more knowledge of the world now so you're not quite so naive."

"It's not that simple," she protested. She didn't see where he could say things like that, he looked weird and people _still _liked him. She couldn't figure that out. Did he have some kind of magical people-magnet or something?

"It's not all that hard either, especially with people that are shallow as rain puddles for the most part. All you gotta do is figure out the group dynamics, draw off a likely prospect, convince them you can bring them something new and interesting and... you're in. It's that simple."

"Really," Rukia said, not bothering to hide her skepticism.

"Here, I'll show you," Renji said, smiling down at her encouragingly. He looked around for a moment and his gaze seem to alight on someone he recognized.

"Hey look, it's Izuru's little sister," Renji said after a while.

He subtly tugged on her arm to lead her over to where she was chatting with a small knot of her friends. Rukia's insides clenched just a little at the thought of approaching the group. She'd tried to approach similar knots of friends in the past with discouraging results, she hadn't been sure if it was because she was common born or if they were all just intimidated by her brother and/or his Name but... while the young men and women would make polite conversation with her, they wouldn't really talk with her or invite her to join thier group. Sooner or later she always wound up drifting off with a polite excuse. usually she could practically hear the fans snapping upen behind her for the women to gossip about her behind.

"Why its Mister Abarai!" the young blonde said pleasantly when he approached. "We'd wondered where you'd gotten to."

"I'm only here for the food," he said with a bright smile at her. Two or three of the girls next to her did that demure eye-lowering thing that nice girls did when they were trying to flirt coyly.

"Here, maybe you can settle this for us," the young woman said premptorily. "Sana here doesn't know if she should go with a creme and gold kimono for the upcoming Moon-veiwing party at the Okawa Estate or go with the more traditional pink."

Renji blinked at them, non-plussed and said

"You're barking up the wrong tree on this one sister, you should ask Rukia here, she's got excellent taste."

The women in the small knot of people seemed to take her in all at once and Rukia tried not to seize up in a subtle panic; she wasn't the bastion of good taste that her dress and jewelry would make her out to be.

"The Kuchiki's younger sister?" one of the girls asked, looking at her with a subtle aura of "my now who let that in here?"

"The very same, she's not so much a slave driver as her brother though," Renji flashed them another smile.

Rukia watched in a little amazement as Renji proceeded to pour on the charm. She hadn't known he _had _any, she was accustomed to his smile being feral rather than friendly, but she watched in amazement as, with an easy manner, a casual relaxed stance and a ready wit he quickly had them all in a circle around the two of them laughing and giggling behind their fans. It wasn't just the women either (though there were more of them) there were a lot of men who seemed to find something he said amusing. They didn't look like they'd be gossiping about him behind his back either. The thought occurred to her that they'd taken one look at all of the ribbons on his chest and simply would not dare to out of fear of retaliation.

"... just ask Rukia," he said, right in the middle of relating some absurd tale about the world of the living. "She's spent so much time there, she knows way more about it than me. What're those things they have, where you put in the money and they give you stuff."

"Vending machines," she supplied.

"That's what they're called," Renji nodded. "I was wearing my gigai that day, it must've been my third or fourth trip out so I was still kind of a kid back then--"

"And you're not now?" Rukia interjected, on home ground, at least, in bantering with him.

"I resent that," he said, smiling down at her.

"Who among the two of us thought that the street mime was a threat to our safety?"

"I'm tellin' ya it was an easy mistake to make," he replied. "He looked like a Hollow! His face was white and he was doing strange things with his body. Most people acted like they couldn't see him. I thought all the kids around him were in trouble."

Rukia smiled in genuine amusement as the group leaned forward to hear what was obviously an amusing story. There were few things in the world she liked better than needling Renji after all.

"This idiot tried to slice at a human, still living mind you, with his Zanpaktou because it was wearing white face paint and doing some kind of strange dance in the street."

"Everyone else but the kids seemed to be unable to see it," he protested.

"Not only that but when that didn't have any effect, he thought it might be some kind of Hollow mutation--"

"There have been a lot of them lately!"

"And went to get his gigai. Renji nearly got arrested for assault."

For the first time, everyone was laughing with her.

"Yeah yeah," he grumbled, but his tone was without venom and when she glanced quickly up at him to see if he was upset with her about telling embarrassing stories about him in public he gave her a quick covert wink. She understood. He'd deliberately set that up to bring her into the conversation. She felt both warmed and touched. She couldn't absolutely certain that he was deliberately making something of a fool of himself in front of strangers for her benefit, Renji had always been sorta touchy about his manly dignity, but in this case she felt it was a pretty safe bet. He was giving her a way in; people liked him because he projected an aura of amusing charm so they would like her because she was with him. It would be up to her to hold their attention when he was gone though.

He did continue the trend, he'd open up with something that had happened to him or a buddy of his out into the feild and then subtly prompt Rukia into telling a simlar story about her own exploits, or to explain various aspects of his own story dealing with the world of the living that Renji pretended to be too dense to understand. She understood that he was helping her establish herself. It felt good not to be alone, to have someone backing her up who relied on more than just a name, a formidable reputation and an intimidating demeanor. Sure, all those things were useful among the nobility but they didn't make you many friends.

She'd missed having him by her side, and she was glad that he was now high enough in rank to be her friend again, it made her life in the Soul Society feel like it would be far less lonely than it had been in a while.

* * *

**My favorite chapter is this one. I think I started the whole story with just that one scene with the champagne flute in mind. It just tickles me somehow. Well, tell me what you think. The next chapter should be up in a few days.**


	7. Shall We Dance?

Time slipped by quickly as Rukia chatted with the nobles and teased Renji and laughed with the others. Usually these events seemed to drag on _interminably, _but she was surprised to glace at a timepeice on the wall and discover that nearly three hours had passed already since she had arrived at the party. This was about the time when she usually tried to beg off citing exhaustion and her brother would obligingly call a servant to escort her home while he remained and politicked with the other Heads of Houses. She discovered however that in this case she was reluctant to leave so quickly.

One of the women tried to subtly squeeze in on Renji's other side and grasp his other arm but he just as subtly put his other hand on top of Rukia's own, which was still tucked into his arm. It wasn't long after that that he asked if she was tired of standing around and wanted to dance. A few of the other couples thought that that was a grand idea and when the next set came up they all proceeded to the floor. Rukia tried not to feel too smug when the chick in purple was left standing by her lonesome.

:Ya got nuthin' on me chickie,: she thought smugly as she brushed on by the woman, skirt whispering and swishing elegantly on the floor behind her.

Dancing with him was as fun the second time as it had been the first. He was a capable dancer and better yet, he had more to talk about than pedigree (either his own or his dogs). That in itself was its own recommendation as far as she was concerned. He _did _have a tendency to glare if people got too close to her though, but a few well-timed kicks in the shin cured him of that. He tried to transfer his glare to her for her silent reprimands, but it wasn't _nearly _so effective when she could just _see _he didn't mean it. He was smiling as much as she was. She wondered if he felt the same as she did when he pulled her close, the feeling of being wrapped in an aura of acceptance. Tall and imposing (and looking more so in his black formals) it gave Rukia a certain feeling of invulnerability to know that if anything happened he'd be at her back fighting alongside her.

It hadn't been until she'd managed some rapport with Ichigo that's she'd stopped feeling so alone. That empty house and the emotional distance from the man who had mysteriously gone to such lengths to bring her into his family (apparently only so he could ignore her) had taken their tolls on her over the years. Even if she had a hard time getting to know people, Rukia was accustomed to being surrounded by them; in the tiny flop-house where she and the gang had grown up everyone was always in everyone else's business. There was never any privacy unless one went of into the woods to find it, and they lived thier lives very much in each others faces. Even when their small gang of kids had been whittled down to just the two of them, she and Renji had still been two peas in a pod. She'd thought she'd known loneliness when she'd been separated from him by classes in the Academy because as time went by they uppers and the regulars had less and less to do with each other and he'd only been able to seek her out during lunch or for study periods. She realized, after Byakuya Kuchiki had adopted her that she didn't know what real loneliness had felt like, but she came to know it very well over the next four decades. Real loneliness was being surrounded by a crowd of people and not being able to speak a single word to any of them.

:But now, here we are, friendship restored,: she thought with a small happy shrug.

Perhaps it would not be quite as easy as it looked to regain thier former friendship, but Renji had been there when she needed him again, even if he hadn't been the one to actually get her down from that tower, and she knew that he'd faced down her brother for her sake, so that had to say something about his wanting to still be her friend.

:And he did show up here and help me out, even if he was with his other friends,: she thought, feeling warmed by the attention.

She caught the admiring glances from the other women at the party (both single and already attached alike) that Renji seemed to be oblivious to, and Rukia couldn't help feeling a small, smug little feeling of satisfaction for being the only person in the room that he seemed remotely interested in staying with. It wasn't exactly jealousy so much that it was the feeling that she and Renji had been separated by her elevation to the nobility for so long that _she_ deserved his sole attention right now and those other girls had better know it. It did feel nice, gliding around the floor together, for once she was actually having fun at one of these stupid functions.

She was thinking about asking for another dance rather than going back to mingle when she sensed a familiar reiatsu making its way toward her. Renji must have sensed it too for he swept her to the edge of the dancing couples as the set drew to a close, and waited with her hand tucked in his elbow. Sure enough a few minutes later, the aristocratic form of her brother glided into veiw.

"Elder Brother," Rukia said, dipping into a curtsy as Renji bowed respectfully beside her.

"Hey boss," Renji said.

"Fortuitous that you are here Lieutenant," he said without preamble. "It is necessary that I attend a closed meeting of the Noble Houses, and I find myself unable to escort my sister back to the estate. I would normally send for one of the servants, but since you are present, it shall easily fall to you."

"Sure thing," he said readily. "I'll get her home safe."

Rukia thought about protesting that she could take care of herself but Renji squeezed her hand so she kept silent.

"Very good then," Byakuya Kuchiki said coolly then pivoted on his heel and walked away without a further word.

"I just love talkin' with your brother," Renji said dryly. "The give and take of conversation, the witty flow of banter..."

Rukia really didn't have anything she could say to that. She just gave a small, shy smile that neither agreed nor denied and said

"That's just his way."

Renji shrugged and said

"So now what would you like? I have nothing but time on my hands, and it doesn't look like Kira or Momo are going to come looking for me."

"More wine?" she asked.

"No chance," he replied.

She did however get him to dance with her again. Who knew if she'd ever see him dressed up for a formal event ever again, so she figured she should make the most of it.

It was an hour later when a yawn snuck up on her that Renji said he should get her home before she fell asleep on her feet or her brother would give him extra paperwork as punishment. She tried to protest that she wasn't a small child and didn't need to be put to bed. He agreed with her in that way he had, but subtly strong-armed her toward the door to collect her wrap and take leave of their hostess.

Stepping out into the cooler night air did seem to clear her head a bit more. While pleasantly scented, the air inside the party had felt a bit stuffy after a while, and after downing three glasses of champagne in rapid succession, it had afterward felt downright hot. She was glad to tuck her arm through his and walk down the path that led through the garden and out to the path that led towards the Kuchiki Estate.

''Thanks for coming to my rescue tonight Renji," she said sincerely. "I really appreciate your help."

"It was nothing," he said, shrugging a dismissal. "I still can't believe Kuchiki left you to fend for yourself. I mean, not that you _can't_, but I don't know that you've ever exactly been... y'know a _people _person."

"I wish I could deny that, but until recently it's been true," she said with soft wistfulness. "In the academy you were really my only friend, I didn't know how to approach the other girls in my class and the boys looked at me like I was soiling something with my presence. I always sort of felt like I was holding you back a little."

"Where'n the hell'd ya get an idea like that?" he demanded. "Didn't we study together all the time? Didn't I come whenever you signed that you needed me?"

"It's because of all that," she said honestly. "You had made friends in your class and you teased me about getting to do everything first... I thought you were annoyed at having to babysit me and hold my hand all the time but were just being too good a friend to say so."

"Geeze, you women," Renji grumbled. "Always attributing motives when there aren't any... and when you do it Rukia you get all the wrong ones. Silly. I might have other friends, but you'll always be first and best to me."

Rukia looked over and up at him in surprise and real delight. He was looking out at the night sky like what he was saying had nothing to do with him, wearing that tough-guy _manly _look, but she could see that he was blushing a little.

"And if anyone ever asks, I never said that, an' I'll deny the whole thing," he added quickly.

That was Renji alright.

Rukia smiled into the moonlight willing to let his momentary lapse into sentimentalism slide... for now. She felt perfectly content right then to just walk arm in arm with him under the stars. It felt like it had been forever since it had been just the two of them. Almost half a century or so now that she thought about it. That day he'd bowed his head to her had been... thirty eight years and seven months ago... in the fall on a clear day. She'd thought it was the end of their friendship, that they were forever separated by two different worlds.

_:Except now we're not_,: she thought, a strange feeling of epiphany creeping up on her.

Renji had made it to Lieutenant in under fifty years, which meant he must have been barreling his way through the ranks, probably by sheer determination and force of arms alone. He didn't have any connections which meant he only had his sword-strength to recommend him. She knew Renji very well, perhaps better than anyone, and in general if he could be any more laid-back he'd be horizontal. He wasn't an _ambitious _kind of person, he didn't care about politics or power... he was competitive, no doubt about that, but guys his type usually were, and you pretty much _had _to be a little competitive to survive on the streets. But in most things Renji was pretty lazy if they didn't concern his immediate survival. She well remembered all the instances she'd had to nag and push him into doing tedious but necessary things that didn't involve food, like cleaning his clothes and washing his hair.

:_Huh, I wonder_...:

For Renji to even bother climbing the ladder at all, much less so quickly and to reach such a position without any help at all when he's not an ambitious type of person...

:_He must have had a powerful motivation for doing so_,: she thought to herself.

She couldn't think of anything he might want that would provide him with the kind of driving force to scrabble up the ladder like he had. Lieutenant was not an easy position to reach for people who had far more advantages than Renji possessed, if all the ribons and medals on his chest were any indication, it looked like he'd simply fought his way to the top. By all accounts he wasn't real happy being a lieutenant, he hated the paperwork and seemed to miss being on the battlefield. Why would he possibly work so hard for a position and duties he disliked?

:_Maybe he's trying to make captain_?: she guessed.

"Ne Renji," she said into the comfortable silence that had grown up between them.

The moonlight shone though in odd dappled white patches on the ground as the path they were on to take them back to the Kuchiki Manse wound through public gardens and scenic parks. The sound of crickets was the only noise in the air as the sounds of the party had faded well behind them and they were the only two on the path.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Do you want to be a captain?" she asked curiously.

"Are you _crazy_?" he said incredulously.

"Well there's three positions open now you know, and you did achieve Bankai," she pointed out.

"I'm hoping they'll rope some other poor bastard into the spot," he said, yawning and stretching an arm out. "The paperwork's a pain in the butt."

She looked over at him in surprise and mystification. The answer sounded exactly like the Renji she knew, but... it only left a strange mystery. _Why _would he have strove so desperately to climb up to Lieutenant if he didn't want to go all the way to the top? Wasn't that why people tried to climb up in the first place?

"Why?" She asked, confused. "You must have worked so hard to become Lieutenant, it only makes sense for you to become captain."

"Well..." he said a little hesitantly. He looked wary about something, like there was something he didn't want to say.

"No offense to your brother," he said at last. "But I don't want to become captain because then I'd have to hang out with all of the _other _captains all the time."

Rukia blinked. Her face clearly drawn in puzzlement. He expanded.

"Most of them are okay, don't get me wrong, but... some of the others... Well, _one _in particular."

Rukia thought about it for a second, mentally listed the other captains in her mind, and then looked back over in understanding.

"Captain Kurotsuchi," she said in comprehension.

"Guy gives me the screamin' collywobbles," he said with a shudder. "The thought of having to hang out with him and his mad-scientist cackle on a fairly regular basis is enough to make me a Lieutenant for life!"

He grinned his crooked smile over at her to show he was partly joking.

"But seriously Renji," she said looking over and up at him. "I know you. You're not the ambitious type and yet here you are, second in command of Sixth Squad. You don't do things, _especially _difficult things, unless you've got something motivating you. So what gives?"

"Why ya gotta pick now to be all perceptive 'n shit?" he mumbled under his breath, looking up and away in disgruntlement.

"Spill," she said next, taking him by the arm and giving a slight shake to get him to look at her. She had softened her demand with a smile but her tone said she wasn't going to take any attempts at sidestepping the issue.

She stopped in the middle of the path right in the center of the garden next to a large blooming tree growing next to a large decorative koi pond. The moonlight shone on them from an angle away from the flowered branches, painting the face of the man looking down at her in sharp contrasts of light and shadow. Her hand and mind noted absently that the muscle under her hand was not only tense but very solid as well. She was suddenly reminded of their frenzied escape from the execution grounds, how he had held her so tightly to him as he ran tirelessly away. She'd felt so small in his arms, almost like a doll, for she'd been able to feel the strength in his arms and chest as he held her close with such effortless strength it was as if she'd weighed nothing.

Rukia was caught by surprise then, without warning his left arm snaked around her waist faster than she could perceive. He pulled her suddenly against him and she was enveloped in a seemingly impulsive grip, her shoulders and spine pressed against a solid wall of muscle. Her heart pounded unexpectedly against her chest to find herself so abruptly in his arms. Her breath caught in her throat and a blush suddenly heated up her face in the space of a few short heartbeats.

This was so sudden! Happiness, surprise, confusion and a little dismay all warred with one another in that moment. Should she say something? What should she do? Did he really feel that way about her?

"Renji..." she said, uncertain of what she was supposed to say.

She could hear his heartbeat pick up against her back through the fabric of his formal uniform. She closed her eyes and let herself fall backwards a bit, trusting him instinctively.

"Roar, Zabimaru!"

The air around her was suddenly filled with white moonlight glinting on silver and the smell of blood.

* * *

**oooh... I wonder what happens. Reveiws are love... love me?**


	8. Assassinations Foiled

Renji's senses picked up additional targets that his first sweep had missed. There was a good sized platoon of them. Time slowed to a crawl as he borrowed speed from Zabimaru's snake reflexes, a trick he'd picked up recently. The bodies of the assassins that had come closest to them were already toppling down, dead, in a circle around them, cleaved by a good swing from Zabimaru like so much wheat from the chaff. However, he felt additional reiatsu approaching swiftly. Nine, no, _ten _more of them, coming up fast. They were not aura's that he recognized and they did not have the scent of Soul Reaper on them... some kind of assassins to judge by the speed and ease of their movements and their coordination. They had already discounted their fallen comrades and had moved to circle in around them, surrounding them in a ring.

The ones facing Renji head-on kept out of the range of Zabimaru while the ones behind him, thinking themselves safe to do so, tried to dart in and take him on his unprotected back. It was a swift, smooth and easy move to whip Zabimaru, already fully extended, up and around while he dodged easily to one side carrying Rukia with him, protected against his stomach. it reminded him strongly of how it had felt that day on the execution grounds, holding her close to him with one arm with Zabimaru held protectively in front of her, ready to face down an enemy even _he _knew he stood no chance of beating, just so he would never again have to let her go. Aizen had been a problem, _these _guys were about to be cutlets.

The circle formed by the ten attackers was weaker on that side, his instincts told him. The two attackers at his back bit it in one easy swing of Zabimaru, and Renji wasted no time whipping his serrated blade to the side to take down the single attacker to the side. He pivoted to keep the bulk of the forces that he had not already taken care of in front of him as he brought Zabimaru back into his "rest" position. It was still a weakness he wanted to work on, Zabimaru was good for three swings but then his momentum was eaten and he needed to recoil for another spring.

He heard Rukia muttering from her place held tightly against him by his free arm. A blue-white blast of power shot out at one of their attackers, taking out the unwary man. He fell bonelessly to join his other sixteen comrades, only six remained. Wait _five_, another reddish blast of power followed in rapid succession the first. Zabimaru sprang at the final attackers, slicing with lightning quick neatness through the torso of the fellow directly in front of him. He'd tried to bring his own blade up to defend but he was too slow for Zabimaru. Renji's own anger that anyone would dare to attack Rukia while in his presence added extra strength to his attack. He hadn't had a prayer. His companion to the right of him was next, severed by a rightward whip of Zabimaru's fangs.

Of the three remaining, Rukia accounted for two more. The last fellow standing after their quick and efficient defense tried to make a run for it, but Renji really wasn't having that this night. He flicked Zabimaru in low to one side and pushed him out to full extension. The man stumbled to the ground in a cry of pain as he abruptly missed the lower half of his right leg (as in it was suddenly _missing_). Like most battles, it was over in heart-pounding terrifying moments. Renji extended his senses out farther to see if there was anyone else approaching and sensed no-one. Wary, but willing to believe that the immediate danger had passed, Renji released Rukia to her feet and pulled Zabimaru into resting position looking around them.

Renji took a quick head count (no pun intended) of their attackers, including the one man who was still trying to scramble away on his hands and knee. Their clothes were black and nondescript, they wore no house colors, nor was anything immediately discernible to identify them, or, more importantly, who had _hired _them. Renji looked over at the man he'd personally kept alive for the purpose. He turned back to Rukia... he did not enjoy lying to her, even by omission, but there were _other _reasons why her brother kept Renji around as his Lieutenant, aside of his strength with a sword. They were _not _the sort of things he wanted the woman whose good opinion of him meant the world to him to have to see and know about.

"Rukia," he said into the too-silent air. "I want you to run back to the Inori Residence as fast as you can and inform your brother of the attack."

"But you--" she protested immediately.

"I'll need to stay here and make sure no-one else happens by and gets mixed up in this," he said firmly. "They might have reinforcements and I don't want an innocent bystander getting ambushed."

She nodded firmly, buying his story, and rabbited off as fast as she could go. Despite the skirt, the girl was quick! He hoped, for his purposes, that she was not too quick. Renji waited until she was out of sight and earshot before he turned his attention to the survivor who had backed up against the nearby tree and was whimpering in pain.

"I won't introduce myself to you, you probably already know who I am anyway. Let's get this over with," said Renji, distaste and resignation in his tone.

"I won't tell you anything," the defeated assassin spat at him.

"Yes," Renji said firmly. "You _will_."

He fingered the edge of one of Zabimarus fangs and looked meaningfully at the man.

"Torture of a defeated enemy is against the Seireitei's rules!" the man protested.

"I've never been much for rules," Renji replied tonelessly. "You're not arrested until the Captain get's here. Until then, you're _mine_."

The man looked helplessly up at him. Renji let the teeth of his blade gleam at him in the moonlight, truly hoping deep inside that the threat of the removal of extremities would be enough to make him talk and things wouldn't have to get messy. The man moved abruptly and Renji reacted to bring his sword into guard before the man could throw a knife at him, but the man wasn't interested in attacking. He'd probably taken in how quickly and ruthlessly his companions had been reaped and decided to make his own end quick and painless, the mark of a higher quality assassin. Renji whipped Zabimaru forward to intercept the wrist of the hand that the man held a knife with which to end his life in and pinned it to the tree... or at least it _would _have been pinned to the tree if Zabimaru had ended in a point rather than a sharpened flat end, as it was his hand, dagger and all, was severed from the rest of his arm. At least he'd be able to claim self-defense. Even as his stomach roiled against his actions, Renji grabbed the front of the assassin's shirt and pulled him up, bringing Zabimaru to his chin and demanded

"Who sent you?"

The man looked with naked terror at him and Renji felt a little bad, but he brought the blade up to touch the man's skin, lightly prodding him. The survivor shook his head.

"Who?! Give me his name!" Renji insisted.

The man shook his head and remained silent. He had to be in incredible pain, and Renji could tell by the way his eyes were glazing over and his muscles starting to shake that he was beginning to slip into shock. He didn't have long before the poor bastard bled out. Ruthlessly, Renji grabbed the wrist he'd just severed and smashed it back against the surface of the tree. A scream ripped through the air but Renji forced himself to harden his resolve against it.

"His name!" he repeated, slamming him back against the trunk again. Another weak sound of pain emanated from his attacker turned victim.

Renji was loosing him too quickly. He had to get the information before he went.

"Tell me the name of the man who hired you," Renji repeated.

"I-I c-can't, he'll..." the terrified man stammered.

"He ain't here right now and I am, so you'd better start talkin'," Renji growled. "Gimme the name o' that bastard that's targeting Rukia."

That Rukia had been the target of the attack was without doubt. First, it was simple common sense; she was the immediate heir to the Kuchiki Clan and he was a nameless nobody who happened to be a lieutenant. Secondly, they'd all been staring straight at her when they'd attacked and he could _feel _their intent.

Renji pushed his thumb into a sensitive spot near his right shoulder and the man hissed in pain, he was fading fast so Renji had to work quickly. Pure, punishing pain to extract the information. There were few things in the world that hurt more than that particular pressure point, it could have a healthy grown man sobbing in under an hour. It should be enough to make a man on the cusp of death tell him what he wanted to know.

"The name of the man who hired you,' Renji said, pressing harder. The hiss became a low sobbing moan. Renji could see the moment in his eyes, when the assassin gave in.

"I...Iji...ta...k--" the man gasped, fading fast.

Renji was so focused on getting the information out of him that he wasn't being as wary as he would normally have been. One of Renji's favorite mottoes was that there was nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing left to loose, because then there's nothing stopping him from doing something crazy. It was a quick movement and Renji's reflexes, while excellent, were not quite enough to bring Zabimaru around in time to block the stab to his shoulder from a hidden dagger in his left hand, the only other hand that hadn't been severed. There was a small explosion of pain in his left shoulder, the man had missed his heart or anywhere vital by quite a bit. The wound burned and stung, but Renji had certainly had worse wounds in the past. The man, his last act of spite ending his own life, slumped to one side, spent.

Renji released him to fall to the ground and went to riffle through the other bodies for evidence. In assassins of that caliber such evidence was unlikely, but it couldn't hurt to check. The fact that there was such a large team of assassins at all was telling. They weren't thugs; Renji (and certainly Rukia) would have sensed the reiatsu of a common thug hired for the purpose so that spoke of soldiers with training, probably either freelance mercs or possibly a private House Guard. Either of those possibilities spoke of money. The perp was someone with money, Renji was betting nobility. Logically, since Rukia was the target, either someone was trying to get at Lord Kuchiki indirectly by hitting his sister, or someone wanted Rukia dead.

:_Dammit_!: he swore to himself, furious. :_I talked her inta goin' to the Kuchiki's 'cause I thought it'd give 'er a better life! If I'da thought for one second it was gonna end up with her bein' a new target on the haystack I'da done everything I could to talk her out of it_!:

Biggest mistake of his life, for a lot of reasons. He searched through the other bodies and found little to identify them or their employer. It was as he was searching the last three bodies, the ones who had held out the longest, that Renji ran across something he thought he might be able to use. Hidden in a chest-pocket in the front of his dark cloak was a single scroll-case. Renji, careful not to contaminate the evidence with traces of his own Reiatsu, delicately popped the catch and unrolled the scroll. He was disappointed in its contents, all it contained was a haiku, he'd been hoping for something a little more useful, something like a handwritten note that said "I, so and so, want you to go kill Rukia Kuchiki at such and such a time and place" signed with the bastards personal seal.

:_Still_,: he thought cheerfully as he brought the paper up near his face and breathed in the twin scents of physical ink and paper and the reiatsu of the people who had handled the letter. :_It's definitely not a loss_.:

There was one other reason why Byakuya Kuchiki had been willing to hire on a guy who was so young to be his Lieutenant, and it had nothing to do with the fact that Renji was willing to bend a few rules in the interests of getting the job done. Renji Abarai was the best tracker in the Seireitei. It wasn't a boast, it was a fact. A snake's keen sense of smell could detect a scent on the wind from over five miles away. Renji's ability to track a person's Reiatsu was similar, and extended much farther. Once Renji caught a scent and locked onto it, it was like the hounds of hell had been loosed; he wouldn't be sidetracked, he couldn't be bribed, he wouldn't be stopped.

Renji sucked in air from the letter, breathing deeply and rolling the scents over his tongue, sorting out the different sub-scents that layered and combined in a single scent. There was parchment, the good stuff, bleached and pressed with a light dusting of fine-grained sugar-sand on it to help the ink dry. Sealing wax, finest quality, flecks of gold in it. The ink was also the best, not the cheap stuff made of charcoal and water but the fine, imported stuff. Now the scents... predominantly the cooling reiatsu of the dead man who had borne the scroll, but thanks to the scroll having been sealed inside a scroll case, there was plenty of trace reiatsu that was untainted by the bearers reiatsu. Plenty there for Renji to get a trace of and track down. He'd follow the scroll-bearer's scent for a while and then trace it back to the man who'd given it to him.

He straightened and gingerly placed the scroll back in the case, wrapping it up in a spare piece of cloth to keep it from being contaminated first. He'd let the Captain worry about figuring out what the hell the haiku that had been written on it meant, that was _his _sort of thing anyway. All that '"layers of subtlety" bullshit that the nobility really went in for. In the Rukon District, if you wanted someone done in, you went and hired a thug to whack the guy; he either succeeded or he didn't. None of this "leaving behind poetry as a message to the intended" nonsense!

Now that he had a scent, Renji was eager to be off on the hunt, but he had to stay at least long enough to report into the boss. He had the feeling that it wouldn't be a very long wait, the Kuchiki acted all calm and unruffled all the time but the man could flash-step like no-ones business. Still... Renji _hated _waiting. He was pacing to soothe some of his pent up energy when Byakuya Kuchiki stepped calmly into the clearing littered with bodies and said with emotionless tranquility

"Report."

"Twenty-six attackers, all dead," Renji reported, in the way that he had been instructed to report and incident to his boss. Terse, bare essentials, get right to the point.

"Rukia Kuchiki accounted for four of them and I for the rest. Ambushed at approximately twenty-one hundred hours, targeting Rukia Kuchiki with intent to kill. There was no announcement of intent and the attackers made no effort to identify themselves or any possible employers."

"Traces?" he asked next.

Renji wordlessly handed over the cloth-wrapped scroll-case.

Byakuya looked pointedly over at the man settled against the tree. Long practice at reading a battlefield would have already told him that that man died differently from the rest. He and Renji traded a long look that needed no explanation.

Had Renji gotten the information out of him or not?

"Ijitak," was all Renji said.

Torture of an apprehended foe was frowned upon in the Seireitei, as such it was not to be _openly _acknowledged. If Kuchiki recognized the name he gave no sign of it, his visage as passive and unchanging as a marble statue. Renji turned slightly as he heard a familiar footstep come running up the path.

"I'da thought you woulda sent her home," Renji said. "If she's being targeted, she should be safer on yer estate with all those guards, rather than here in the open."

Byakuya shifted his stance ever so slightly, letting the moonlight shine on his own Zanpaktou, and Renji got the message. Her Elder Brother was on high alert and she _wasn_'_t _unguarded. Byakuya had simply wanted a private word with his Lieutenant to assess the situation. Rukia joined her brother by his side, looking back and forth between the two of them. Renji gave her an encouraging smile.

"You have a scent then?" the Elder Kuchiki questioned as a matter of course.

Renji tensed and nodded eagerly, more than willing to have done with the pleasantries so that he could do the work he was good at.

Byakuya did not unbend so much as to smile, but there was a sort of smug satisfaction in his voice as he said

"Fetch."

Renji straitened, inhaling a purposeful breath and gliding it over his tongue, sorting the scents in the back of his mouth. He tasted the winds, searching for a long minute, then finally caught it. He faced that direction, and with a long level look at his captain for the particular tone and manner of addressing him, blurred out.

He was on the hunt.

:_Fetch indeed_,; he grumbled internally as he took off across the rooftops. Prat.

* * *

**I want to thank everyone who has reveiwed up to this point for all the wonderful and supportive feedback I've gotten so far. This might be the last chapter I post of this story for a little while, seeing as I don't have the next part already written. If you want, I can post some of the other Renji goodness I've got stored away for you. There's a short one-shot type story involving Renji, Momo and an unfortunate incident with a koi pond, then a longer multi-chapter angsty peice based around a mission gone terribly wrong. and then... then there's this one story, I wonder if I should mention it, it sounds like I'm bragging. Well, here it is. **

**It's written in first person from Renji's POV and it's really really really long. Like, it's over a thousand kilobytes long and still going nearly all of it is action and cool fight scenes. It incorporates a lot of different elements I wanted to write about, many of them revolving around a cool new take on his Zanpaktou Zabimaru that I've never read anyone take before, so for all of you who are like me and get tired of never really getting to see in really whoop some ss and take some names, yeah, this might be the one for you. It involves also a new take on Aizen's master plan and a new kind of enemy (sory there aren't really any arrancars or Espada in this one). Also there's a new idea about why the Quincy have the power to destroy spirits instead of just purifying them (thought I;d throw that in there) though there's not much mention of the Ichigang in it... it's all Renji striking out (mostly) on his own. There's some Rukia in it towards the beginning, not as much as I would like to see, but due to the flow of the story, her part comes later. Okay, I admit it, I'm pretty excited about showing it off, there's just one problem... Yeah, you guessed it, the title. I almost never actually title my fics until I'm about three fourths of the way through them. So I've got some Candidates, and you guys can write in to vote and tell me which one sounds best.**

**Mortal Bones**

**Shadow War**

**Chasing Shadows**

**Through the Divine Realms**

**Bloodhound**

**Please review and tell me what you think. Also, if anyone has any suggestions for the next chapter of Stray Dog Strut feel free to send them along, because frankly, I'm at a loss.  
**


	9. Rouse the House

"Elder Brother," Rukia said looking over at him as he unrolled the scroll carefully and read it.

She was wondering how best to broach the subject, it should probably be done delicately. She _knew _those men had been after her, she did _not _know who they were or why they wanted to kill her. No-one seemed to, not yet anyway. If she had not recently been through an episode where someone had been trying to get her executed, Rukia supposed she would have been shaken. Fighting Hollows was one thing, sure they could kill you just as dead, but theirs was an impersonal sort of anger, they weren't mad at you personally they just wanted the obstacle that was in the way of them at last getting something to assauge the hunger out of thier way. But Rukia Kuchiki had been targeted recently because she'd been the vessel for the Hougyoku so someone targeting her was not an entirely new experience. It was an unsettling one still, but not new so she wasn't as shaken as she probably would have been otherwise.

"The pup did have one good notion," her brother said absently as his eyes took in every detail of the note. "You should be back on the estate where you can be guarded. I will escort you there and mobilize the estate to protect you."

"I'm going after Renji," she replied firmly, facing him.

She was trembling a little inside because she'd never before openly defied any of his suggestions (which had the weight of commands in her world) but as far as she was concerned in this instance there was no way she could afford not to. Still, she straightened her spine and looked her brother in the eye to let him know she was serious about this and wouldn't be swayed.

Byakuya Kuchiki raised an eyebrow at her and she tried to meet his gaze squarely but a very large part of her was still intimidated by his power and place in her life. He was her older brother and the Head of her House. By the rigid and unbending rules of the upper tier nobility, he had power of life and death over her, though he was not so rigid a man as to enforce that power on his own, and certainly never over so small a measure of defiance from her. Her brother cared for her as he cherished the memory of his beloved Hisana, he would not deliberately harm her, even though she knew this her heart still hammered violently within her frame. It took an enormous effort of will from her to keep her gaze steady and unwavering and her stance firm when a large portion of her mind was screaming at her to back down and submit.

If this had been anyone else, and in any other circumstance, she would have listened to that voice, but this was Renji, he was her oldest friend. It was he who had been there in the hard years both in Hangdog and later in the Academy, he who had protected her and sheltered her and comforted her when things were difficult and strange. Her brother had given her a place in his House and his family but that had come with the price of being made to conform to what it was to be a Kuchiki, Rukia often privately questioned over the long lonely years in that echoingly empty house if the trade had been a fair one. Renji too had once given her a home and a place to belong, long ago in Hangdog, and he had never asked that she be anything other than what she was (of course, one could argue that a person couldn't actually _be _much in that place). Both had had their impact in her life, and as much as Rukia might be inclined to listen to her brother, her heart told her that this was greater than a matter of pride. This was her life, if she didn't take responsibility for it, then who would?

She held his gaze for a very long moment, not openly challenging him or his authority as her older brother and the Head of her House, but also not submissively giving in to his edicts after all. She had been led around by the nose for far too long, and even if the choices she had made recently had been ones that would nearly get her killed, she had also never regretted them either. It had been a comfort during the cold, lonely hours in her cell, waiting for the day the axe would fall, the comfort had come from at last being able to make a decision of her own, unfettered by obedience to a position she wasn't entirely sure she wanted. She'd made her own choice and she would live and die by it and in that stillness came a wonderful sort of freedom. She had been confronted with her own cowardice, and now that she was granted a second chance on life there was something she had come to realize for herself... it was time to stop running.

"Brother," she said with soft firmness. "I am aware that those assassins were sent to slay me. It was no accident that they found my path, it was not a case of mistaken identity, and they had no interest in killing Renji save as a way to remove him in order to get to me. I will not ask who sent them or why they were sent, as the Head of my House that information is yours to withhold or reveal at your discretion. I ask only that I be allowed my pride, both as a Kuchiki and as a warrior, that I be allowed to pursue my attackers and face them. I..."

She looked away and then up again, unable to keep her voice from trembling.

"I am _tired _of running away, Brother. I am _tired _of my own cowardice and my own weakness. I ask for the chance to find true courage and the strength to stand on my own for once in my life."

Byakuya looked mildly taken aback by her soft-spoken outburst and for a moment his expression seemed to soften a little.

"You have gotten stronger, Rukia," he said quietly.

"While I cannot help but worry about allowing you to go into danger, I also cannot fault your reason for doing so," he paused. "Provided of course, that it is your pride as a Kuchiki that prompts such action, and not any lingering attachments to young Lieutenant Abarai."

Rukia could not contain her puzzlement at the objection her brother had stipulated. Her confusion must have shown on her face (or her brother had simply anticipated the question before it could be asked,) for he illuminated.

"While it is entirely fitting that you would redress this attack upon your person, and by extension the pride of your House, by facing and eliminating your enemy directly, perhaps in this case it would be better to leave the matter of tracking down and disposing of the rabble to Lieutenant Abarai... especially since you do not seem to have your weapon on your person."

Rukia blinked in surprise and realized that her brother did indeed have a valid point at that moment. She was unarmed, and as such it would be the height of foolishness to pursue Renji into the fire. She frowned a little at her brother, suspicious that he might in fact be amused by her realization of her weaponless state, but decided that it would be as pointless as it _ever _was to argue with him. He was Byakuya Kuchiki, and he would do things his own way, as he always did.

"It would be a wiser course of action, given the present unknown variables, if you would swiftly return to the estate and alert the house guard while I report this matter to the Head Captain."

"Surely this is not a matter for the Captains of the Court Guard Squads--" Rukia said in confusion.

She did not see how one little attempt on her life was cause to alert the most powerful figure currently in the Seireitei, her brother was over-reacting.

"I know that your current status often eludes you still, sister," he chided her gently. "But as my younger sibling, even by mere adoption, currently you are the only directly appointed heir to the Kuchiki title. An attack on your person has taken place, and though it was foiled, an attack on such a person constitutes more than merely an attack on the pride of the Kuchiki name. it is a matter for the Head Captain to be made aware of. Make haste back to the House and assemble the guard, they may be needed before all of this is over with."

"But what about--" she caught herself in time.

She had her pride as a Kuchiki to consider. Her brother answered the question she was not supposed to ask anyway.

"Lieutenant Abarai is a capable fighter, otherwise he would not _be _my Lieutenant. Doubtless he will enjoy himself if anyone he meets gets in the way of his accomplishing his mission, you _are _aware of his pugnacious nature I am certain. He will return with the information I sent him after, or perhaps even the persons responsible. I wouldn't worry about him. As heir to the Kuchiki name, I am entrusting you with the responsibility of rousing the House, and I ask that you make haste in doing so."

That last had been a dismissal, she could hear it in his tone. Rukia wondered if she should keep trying to argue with him about it; turning tail and running back to the house seemed like timidity to her right then, and while she wasn't wild about the idea of plunging her exquisitely-dressed self into danger, running back to the house and letting Renji and her brother handle things smacked of cowardice to her. She was tired of running, but her brother had a point in that the Elders of the House should be notified and quickly--

:_And I might not be the only one targeted_,: she thought in sudden realization.

That last thought finally decided her. She would go back quickly and rouse the House Guard, meet with the Elders and appraise them of the situation, then she could change out of this dress, grab Sode No Shiraiyuki, and come back to help Renji.

She bowed quickly to her brother and rabbited off. Flash-step was one of the things that the Kuchiki's excelled in, and while Rukia was not as proficient in it as her brother was, she was better than any of her previous classmates, and she'd bet she was even better at it than Renji was (lumbering lummox that he was). It was not long at all before her dress swirled around her as she came to a sudden stop in the courtyard of her private annex. She signaled quickly that one of the nearby shadows should attend to her, and one of the top-ranked guards of House Kuchiki (one assigned to patrol her wing) blurred into being, kneeling, in front of her.

"Assemble and notify all top-ranked members of the House Guard that there has been an attack upon my life and person," she commanded. "I wish to see the Guard Captain, you may inform him that I am on my way to the wing that holds the Kuchiki Elders. Dismissed."

"Yes, Milady," the faceless guard replied, bowing low from his kneeling position and blurring out. Debating whether to change now or come back later, Rukia decided upon speed, and the wisdom of carrying a weapon on her person just in case, and ducked quickly into her living quarters.

The rooms that her Elder Brother had granted her were lavish beyond anything she had ever imagined in her wildest dreams back in Hangdog. Even in the academy, the best she'd ever thought she'd get to live in would have been the nicer of the shared Officers Residencies and those were not even a patch on the lavish apartments she now called her own. She had private rooms for sitting in, for taking tea in, for eating in, for reading in, for doing study-work or light exercise in, her own private garden, a separate sleeping chamber, a bath-house with a sauna and three pools with different water temperature, two separate walk-in closets with smaller rooms to the side to put on her make-up and accessories and check herself in front of the mirrors before formal events, and that was not even counting the small army of servants who staffed her place. She had one for the bedding, two who attended her in the bath, three who took care of all of her fine kimonos and the accessories that went with them, two more who served her food in her private chambers, one who kept up her household accounts and her daily Kuchiki-stuff schedule, and a last final servant who did the cleaning and picking up (Rukia was careful not to leave her very much work to do, she'd overheard horror-stories of some of the other noblewomen and the loads of cleaning work that they left for their servants!).

She quickly breezed through her rooms and ducked into the closet closest to her bed-chamber. She plucked a spare uniform from the pile of them folded neatly on a shelf waiting to be used and hurriedly donned it without bothering to use the dressing closet; the maids could pick up the discarded dress this time. She ducked into her sleeping chamber and pulled Sode No Shiraiyuki off the rack next to where she slept, tucking her neatly through the belt, and walked briskly out of the room and down the hall, making her way to the wing that held all of the Elders in it.

"My apologies for asking you to assemble on such short notice," Rukia said with a bow upon being led into the chamber where the Elders assembled to officially discuss House affairs. She had only rarely been given access to this hallowed hall, mostly Rukia kept herself out of House business as it generally did not concern her.

Before one of the old windbag could get started on pointing out the irregularity of such presumption, Rukia briskly preempted the meeting by saying

"There has been an attempted assassination on my person."

The collective gasps and noises of outrage made her feel unexpectedly warmed. Okay, so she knew they were only outraged on her behalf because someone would dare attack a Kuchiki, but it still felt nice that she had people who (sort of) had her back. They were a difficult lot to live with most of the time, and she couldn't recall a single one of them who had said more than two words to her that didn't involve reprimanding her on her posture or the correct way to place her napkin, but still... they were her House and they felt that she was someone who was deserving of their protection; there were _worse _things in the world.

"Elder Brother tasked me with the job of informing you so that you could take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of the grounds and the other members of the House as I may not be the only one they come after. Seeing as I've done that, I must be off to see about tracking down the persons responsible."

With that abrupt end-note Rukia rose from her seated position, bowed politely to the room while all their mouths were still only half open to form a protest, and took herself off. Flash-step was highly frowned upon (if not actually forbidden) within the halls of the Kuchiki Estate, nevertheless tonight seemed to be a night for testing her limits because Rukia blurred into the wind the instant she was on the other side of the door. She paused only long enough for the gate guard (there were now ten instead of the usual two) to take her identity and then she was off again.

:_Renji wouldn't want me traveling alone, especially not right now_,: she thought to herself. :_Besides, we don't know who the mysterious attacker is, and for all we know Renji could be biting off more than he can chew being his usual arrogant and over-confident self. I should bring reinforcements in case he needs them_.:

Who could she ask though? She didn't know very many people of the caliber that would back up a Lieutenant of the Court Guard Squads and it wasn't like she could command the House Guard herself, those men answered only to the Head of the House or the top-ranked elders in an emergency.

:_I might not be able to ask for help for mysel_f,: Rukia thought, brightening with inspiration. :_But Renji has plenty of strong fighters who look to him as a good friend. And I know just which two to ask.:_

After all, Momo and Kira had been Renji's friends since the Academy, and they were the two people besides Rukia who knew him the best (and much to Rukia's hidden irritation, in terms of actual year-time spent together, they had actually spent more time with Renji than she had, but Rukia didn't think that a forced separation should have to count). Back in the Academy, there had even been rare occasions when Rukia had hung out with the two of them herself, true, she knew them through Renji but there was enough of an association there that she could call on them in an emergency.

She altered course and flashed off to Fifth Squad Headquarters. Momo was by far the more approachable of the two (Rukia had never quite figured Kira out) and if she was lucky, she would catch the young Lieutenant before she retired to bed.

Intrigue and machinations of the sort that sent hired assassins out to do the dirty work were not the sort of canny, twisty-minded things that Renji excelled in; give him a set of monsters or someone who needed the crap beat out of him and let Renji go to town, but if the danger wasn't obvious, chances were Renji wouldn't pick up on it. That was why Rukia had been the one to plan most of the raids in ther gang. Loud, obnoxious, strong and stubborn Renji made a superb frontlineman, but he'd never be a politician. He was good with people, but his heart was so straighforward and honest that he literally could not understand the way people who dealt in underhanded tactics (such as assassins) thought. That was what had Rukia so worried; she did not like the situation one bit and she worried that Renji would be caught off-guard by a sneak-attack.

:_Don't worry Renji_,: she thought, hoping that whatever trap might lay in wait for him would hold off being sprung long enough for her to arraive with reinforcements. :_I'm on my way_.:

* * *

**It's been a while since I updated this one because I had one monster of a block on it, lasted for months even before I started publishing it. Luckily, I got advice from a good friend of mine and he said that a lot of times writers block stems from having written a character acting out of character. I went back and sure enough, when I'd written Rukia defying her brother I'd just put it out there and didn't explain why or how, plus her brother's reaction was way off, not subtle and Kuchiki enough to suit him. Well, now the problem is fixed and I can move on from here. I don't have any other chapters written so it might be a little bit before the next one of this one is out but I hope you enjoyed this one and as always please read and review. I'd also like to take a moment to shamelessly plug my other Renji Fic Chasing Shadows. I know it starts out slow, but any good, long fic doesn't just jump into the middle of things. Drop by and read it, if nothing else it has fun characterization in it. **

**~Nightheart.  
**


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